In recent years, the global tuberculosis epidemic has been on a significant rise. The situation is very serious as China accounts for about a quarter of the number of TB patients in the Dukes. However, cervical lymphatic tuberculosis, an early tuberculosis infection, has not been taken seriously by the majority of medical practitioners. If this cervical lymphatic tuberculosis, the most common and early tuberculosis infection, can be diagnosed and treated early, the morbidity and mortality of tuberculosis, such as pulmonary tuberculosis and tuberculous pleurisy, can be greatly reduced, which is of great importance for economic and social benefits. It is recommended to organize national anti-tuberculosis force to study and carry out early diagnosis and treatment of cervical lymphatic tuberculosis. Cervical lymphatic tuberculosis is often misdiagnosed Since the beginning of liberation when newborns were commonly vaccinated with BCG, doctors and parents have developed the misconception that there will be no more tuberculosis infections. In fact, tuberculosis infection is still very common, but it just does not develop in the immune population. Symptoms of cervical lymphatic tuberculosis are often insidious and are often coexisting with diseases that reflect poor immune function such as colds, bronchitis, tonsillitis, pneumonia, asthma, and allergic diseases. Patients are mostly seen for these diseases, and doctors pay more attention to these comorbidities, and it is precisely this situation that makes cervical lymphatic tuberculosis neglected. Also, some doctors, nowadays, blindly pursue advanced instrumentation for examination and neglect to take medical history and basic physical examination. These are the reasons why cervical lymphatic tuberculosis is easily misdiagnosed. What causes cervical lymph node tuberculosis? There are various viruses and bacteria, including tuberculosis bacteria, in the air and in people’s respiratory tracts. Most of the tuberculosis bacteria enter the body with breathing in the air and are the first to invade the cervical lymph nodes. People with good immune function, i.e., good resistance, have various immune cells and factors in their blood, which will swallow and digest the bacteria and prevent them from getting sick. In people with poor immune function, the bacteria are not completely destroyed, and the disease develops. Tuberculosis bacteria multiply in the lymph nodes of the neck and form small nodes. This is called cervical lymphatic tuberculosis, commonly known as “rat sore” or “scrofula”. The symptoms of cervical lymphatic tuberculosis are the same as those of tuberculosis infections in other areas, including night sweats, excessive sweating, cough, poor appetite, emaciation, weakness, low fever (mostly in the afternoon and evening), hand and foot fever, anemia, irritability, and rhinorrhea, but the symptoms may not be complete. In case of combined mesenteric lymph node tuberculosis, there may be symptoms such as dry or thin stools, five-shift discharge, abdominal pain and bloating. Since infection with tuberculosis bacteria can further reduce the immune function of the body, patients are often combined with recurrent infections or allergic diseases. Patience in anti-tuberculosis Today, in developed countries, people who are found to have calcified spots and have never been treated with anti-tuberculosis are routinely treated with isoniazid for half to one year even if they have no symptoms, in order to sweep out live tuberculosis bacteria that may be present and hidden by the calcified spots. Each TB bacillus is wrapped in a wax-like substance, and the bacillus can hide inside for 20 to 30 years and come out when the body’s immune function is poor. Therefore, it takes a long time to fight TB, usually one and a half to two years. If several anti-tuberculosis drugs are used at the same time, the treatment time can be shortened. Patients should not stop the drugs immediately after the symptoms have disappeared, but should insist on anti-tuberculosis treatment until the cervical lymph nodes cannot be felt. If you stop taking the medication when your symptoms are better and the cervical lymph nodes can still be felt, the TB bacteria will resurface, and the medication you took before will be wasted.