What are the symptoms of tuberculosis?
Symptoms can be: physical asthenia, night sweats, fever or subfebrile, weight loss, pallor, loss of appetite, persistent cough over 3 weeks, which progressively worsens and may be accompanied by small amounts of muco-purulent expectoration, hemoptysis ( expectoration of blood), difficulty breathing, chest pain.
How is tuberculosis (TB) transmitted?
The source of infection is the person suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis, who has not yet started treatment and who eliminates bacilli through coughing and expectoration, talking, singing, sneezing. Bystanders inhale the bacilli that reach the lungs.
The risk of developing the disease is higher in people who live or spend a lot of time in the same room with a TB patient.
People at high risk of infection are the elderly, the infants and people with a compromised immune system, as well as people living in poor, unsanitary, unhygienic conditions.
How is tuberculosis diagnosed?
For the diagnosis, a radiological examination of the lungs is recommended, which highlights changes and is mandatory completed with the sputum examination which highlights the presence of Koch bacillus by microscopic examination (result in approximately 24 hours), GeneXpert or by cultures (result in 3-6 weeks).
What does tuberculosis treatment involve?
Treated correctly, tuberculosis is a curable disease. Treatment is free in Romania even for patients who do not have mandatory health insurance. Tuberculosis treatment must be rigorously followed and involves the administration of anti-tuberculosis drugs for at least 6 months, and in more severe cases, treatment may be required for up to 12 months.
A pacient is cured if at the end of treatment the culture results for Mycobacterium Tuberculosis are negative (the microbe is dead).
A balanced life, meals at regular intervals, no food excesses, no alcohol consumption, no sleep deprivation, will lead to the resumption of physical activity, return to work and a normal life.
Prevention of tuberculosis
Prevention involves: informing and educating the population, periodic health checks, screening exams, rapid intervention in tuberculosis outbreaks, permanent ventilation of rooms, a healthy diet, stimulating the population's concern for increasing natural resistance, hardening through natural factors (cure of air, water, sun, sport, physical and mental activity) for a healthy way of life, isolation of contagious cases.
BCG vaccination reduces the risk of tuberculosis, being effective in preventing life-threatening forms of tuberculosis in children.
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