I. What is tuberculosis?
Tuberculosis is a chronic infectious disease caused by the invasion of Mycobacterium tuberculosis into the human body, and can be completely cured with early detection and regular treatment. Mycobacterium tuberculosis can invade any organ of the human body, which means that tuberculosis can occur in all organs of the human body.
How is tuberculosis transmitted?
Patients with tuberculosis (Mycobacterium tuberculosis found in sputum) are the main source of transmission of tuberculosis. When a patient coughs, snorts or laughs loudly, droplets containing tuberculosis bacilli are discharged directly from the respiratory tract and are inhaled by healthy people, forming a tuberculosis infection, which is the main way of tuberculosis transmission. A patient with bacillary tuberculosis, especially a patient with a positive direct sputum smear, can emit about 3500 particles containing tuberculosis bacilli in one cough;
The number of particles exhaled during normal exhalation is very small, about 600-700 particles are emitted in one minute of loud speech, while up to 1 million particles are dispersed into the air during one sneeze. It is clear that the risk of transmission of infection when coughing and sneezing is quite serious in patients with positive tuberculosis. If the room is frequently opened for ventilation, the chance of infection can be greatly reduced.
What are the main symptoms of tuberculosis?
Early or mild tuberculosis may have the following symptoms.
1. Fever: The fever is low in the afternoon, mostly rising from 4 to 8 p.m., usually between 37 and 38 degrees Celsius. This is often accompanied by generalized weakness or wasting, night sweats, and may lead to menstrual irregularities or menopause in women.
2. cough and sputum: the most common early symptom of tuberculosis, mostly a dry cough.
3, blood in sputum: sputum with blood or small blood clots, mostly caused by tuberculosis cavities.
4. What should I do if I get infected with tuberculosis?
If you cough and sputum with blood in sputum for more than two weeks, you should go to your local tuberculosis control institution immediately for early diagnosis and regular treatment for early recovery. In addition, relatives (close contacts) of patients with bacillary tuberculosis should also have a health check in a timely manner.
V. Sputum examination?
When you suspect that you have tuberculosis, you should first have a chest fluoroscopy, and if you find any abnormal shadows in your lungs, you should have a sputum examination. Sputum examination is the most accurate way to diagnose tuberculosis and find the source of infection. In addition, regular sputum examination is used to evaluate and assess the effectiveness of treatment. After the sputum-positive patients have finished the treatment course, three consecutive sputum-negative checks are considered as the cure of tuberculosis.
VI. How to properly retain sputum specimens?
The correct way to retain sputum is to rinse the mouth with water several times before retaining sputum in order to remove food residues and some miscellaneous bacteria from the mouth. The sputum should be coughing out from the trachea after coughing hard, and then put it in the sputum box for examination. Do not spit saliva or nasal mucus into the sputum box as this may affect the sputum examination results. For those who need to check sputum for the first time, three sputum specimens are required to be sent.
1. immediate sputum: sputum coughed up at the time of consultation.
2. nocturnal sputum: sputum coughed up in the evening of the previous day.
3. Early morning sputum: the sputum coughed up deeply after waking up, among which the sputum coughed up for the first time in the early morning is the most effective.
7.How many kinds of anti-tuberculosis drugs are commonly used?
1. Isoniazid (INH): It has an extremely strong killing effect on tuberculosis bacilli, is inexpensive, and is an essential drug for the treatment of tuberculosis.
2. Streptomycin (SM): It is one of the drugs in the chemotherapy regimen for the intensive treatment of primary tuberculosis (beginning two months) and has a significant bactericidal effect on Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The drug has damage to the cranial nerve, can cause vertigo tinnitus, hearing loss or even deafness, numbness of the lips and other side effects, so pregnant women, children and the elderly should be prohibited or used with caution.
3.Rifampicin (RFP): It has a strong killing effect on tuberculosis bacteria, and is the most effective anti-tuberculosis drug after isoniazid, and is also an indispensable component of the primary treatment program for tuberculosis.
4, ethambutol (EMB): has an inhibitory effect on tuberculosis bacteria, especially on tuberculosis bacteria that have been resistant to isoniazid and streptomycin still have an inhibitory effect, attention should be paid to changes in vision during the use of the drug.
5.Pyrazinamide (PZA): has a special killing effect on intracellular or resting state of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The above five drugs are the most commonly used or effective drugs for the treatment of tuberculosis at present. Doctors can make up a reasonable chemotherapy regimen for the treatment according to the changes in the patient’s condition and the use of drugs.
What are the principles of treating tuberculosis?
1.Early: Treatment of confirmed bacillary tuberculosis should be carried out early so as to facilitate lesion repair and, more importantly, to reduce the transmission to relatives and the surrounding healthy population.
2, combination: choose two or more anti-tuberculosis drugs to form a chemotherapy regimen, the combination of treatment can ensure the effectiveness of treatment, and delay and prevent the tuberculosis bacilli to produce drug resistance and lead to chemotherapy failure.
3, the right amount: too small a dose of drugs can not kill the bacteria and easy to produce drug resistance, but too large a dose is prone to toxic side effects and interrupt treatment. Therefore, it is necessary to adhere to the prescribed dose of drugs in order to complete the scheduled course of treatment and ensure the effectiveness of treatment.
4.Regulation: strictly follow the chemotherapy regimen within the prescribed course of treatment with the same number of doses and at the same intervals, avoiding missed or interrupted doses.
5.Whole course: complete the prescribed course of treatment as required (generally 6 months). If the course of treatment is not completed to stop the drug, it will make the treatment fail or cause relapse. However, indefinite use of drugs beyond the course of treatment will not only fail to improve the efficacy of treatment, but will also easily produce toxic side effects and increase the unnecessary economic burden.
What is primary treatment of tuberculosis?
Primary treatment of tuberculosis refers to patients who are first discovered and have not received any anti-tuberculosis drugs, or patients who have been treated with irregular and unreasonable anti-tuberculosis therapy after the discovery of tuberculosis, but the course of treatment does not exceed one month. However, as long as the patient actively cooperates with the anti-TB doctor and insists on effective, reasonable and complete chemotherapy, the infectiousness can disappear within 2-4 weeks and the cure rate can be over 95%. The key is to follow medical advice, obey management and complete the course of treatment. Strive for a complete cure.
What is resuscitated tuberculosis?
Resuscitated tuberculosis refers to the relapse of a patient who has failed initial treatment or treatment. Or those who have received irregular and unreasonable chemotherapy for more than one month after the detection of tuberculosis. In practice, most patients with relapsed tuberculosis have a complex condition, often characterized by heavy disease and poor health, caused by irregular or irrational chemotherapy (not adhering to treatment as required by the doctor or being treated in non-tuberculosis specialized institutions or even by feral doctors). At this time, the tuberculosis bacillus has developed drug resistance, so treatment is much more difficult than for the first treatment of tuberculosis.
The key to the treatment of relapsed tuberculosis is to establish confidence in overcoming the disease, actively cooperate with the doctor, choose the chemotherapy regimen consisting of anti-tuberculosis drugs according to the drug sensitivity test, and insist on completing the treatment.
What should patients pay attention to after starting treatment?
1.Establish the correct scientific viewpoint and confidence.
2.Follow the medical advice.
3.Adherence to medication and regular re-examination.
4.The patient’s family should actively cooperate with the treatment.
12.Can tuberculosis be cured?
There are measures to prevent and cure the disease.
What is BCG vaccination?
BCG vaccine is actually a kind of attenuated live Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which is bovine Mycobacterium tuberculosis in artificial medium after 13 years and 230 successive transplantation and transmission culture, so that it loses its pathogenicity to human body, but can make the body produce immunity. After BCG vaccination, the human body is artificially infected with a mild form of tuberculosis. This immunity is obtained so that the human body does not develop the disease when it is infected with the tuberculosis bacillus again. After decades of research and practical observation, BCG vaccine has indeed become an effective weapon for the prevention of tuberculosis in humans, especially for children and adolescents with obvious protective effects.