World Tuberculosis Day: How to win the battle against tuberculosis?

Hemoptysis, low fever, dyspnea, chest pain... Tuberculosis, also known as "consumption", is a chronic infectious disease that seriously endangers public health. Today is the 29th " World Tuberculosis Day ". The theme is "You and I work together to end the tuberculosis epidemic."

(Photo source: National Center for Disease Control and Prevention)

If tuberculosis is not detected in time, it will cause serious harm to health and may even cause respiratory failure and death. So how does tuberculosis come about? Is it really that scary? How should we prevent it? Today we are going to talk about tuberculosis.

Discovery of tuberculosis

Evidence of the health hazards of tuberculosis has been found throughout human evolution, but it was not until March 24, 1882, when German scientist Robert Koch announced the discovery of "Mycobacterium tuberculosis" that humans first truly understood the culprit of tuberculosis. The discovery of Mycobacterium tuberculosis provided an important scientific basis for the fight against tuberculosis.

Tuberculosis is a chronic infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (TB), commonly known as "consumption". Tuberculosis can occur in any part of the human body except hair and nails, and more than 80% of cases are pulmonary tuberculosis (tuberculosis lesions occur in the lungs, trachea, bronchi and pleura, etc.).

When it comes to tuberculosis, many people are terrified and try to avoid it. The fundamental reason for such emotional reaction is that they don't know much about tuberculosis and are worried about being infected. Do you know these common questions about tuberculosis?

01 There are thousands of roads for tuberculosis to spread, which one does it take?

Generally speaking, Mycobacterium tuberculosis is mainly transmitted through the respiratory tract in three ways:

One is airborne transmission. For example, coughing, sneezing, talking loudly, laughing, singing, etc. will exhale a large number of infectious droplets, which can remain in the air for a long time. Healthy people will be infected after inhaling the alveoli.

The second is dust transmission. If a tuberculosis patient spits sputum on the ground, the water will evaporate and become bacteria-carrying dust, which may be inhaled into the alveoli by healthy people, causing infection.

The third is transmission through recycled aerosols. The tuberculosis bacteria that fall on the ground and on objects are blown away by the dust and can easily be inhaled into the alveoli, causing infection.

02 Will you definitely get tuberculosis if you come into contact with a tuberculosis patient?

Tuberculosis bacteria are mainly transmitted through the respiratory tract via droplets, so patients with pulmonary tuberculosis who excrete bacteria are contagious to a certain extent.

Even if you have come into contact with patients with pulmonary tuberculosis and tuberculosis bacteria, you may not necessarily develop tuberculosis. This is because whether you are infected with pulmonary tuberculosis is mainly related to the amount of tuberculosis bacteria you have come into contact with, their virulence, and the strength of your own immunity. If the tuberculosis bacteria you have come into contact with are highly virulent and in large quantities, and your own immunity is low, you are likely to be infected. Otherwise, you may not necessarily develop the disease. In addition, extrapulmonary tuberculosis (such as bone tuberculosis and lymph node tuberculosis) is not contagious, and you will not get tuberculosis even if you have come into contact with such patients.

If you have close contact with a group of patients with infectious pulmonary tuberculosis, there is no need to panic. See a doctor promptly and take preventive medication or observe according to the doctor's instructions.

03 Can tuberculosis patients reduce or stop taking medication on their own after their symptoms disappear?

After taking anti-tuberculosis drugs, tuberculosis symptoms may disappear in a short time, making people mistakenly believe that they have been cured. However, in the human body, some tuberculosis bacilli are very active, and the drugs can kill the bacteria in a short time; some tuberculosis bacilli are inactive or grow inside cells, in which case it is difficult to kill the bacteria in a short time, so long-term treatment is required, and the drug cannot be reduced or stopped on its own.

If you reduce or stop taking the medicine without authorization, the unkilled tuberculosis bacteria may multiply again, causing tuberculosis relapse. Recurrent tuberculosis bacteria often develop drug resistance and are very difficult to treat. Therefore, patients must follow the doctor's instructions to adhere to the full course of treatment and take the medicine regularly to minimize the recurrence of tuberculosis.

04 Can tuberculosis be prevented? What other prevention tips can we learn in our daily life?

The most effective preventive measure is to detect and completely cure infectious pulmonary tuberculosis patients as early as possible; the second is to take effective infection control measures to cut off the transmission route of tuberculosis bacteria; and finally, to protect people who are susceptible to infection, including BCG vaccination of newborns and preventive treatment of tuberculosis for people latently infected with tuberculosis.

Avoid contact with infectious tuberculosis patients. If contact is necessary, wear a mask for self-protection.

If there is a tuberculosis patient at home, it is recommended to live in separate rooms. The elderly and children are at high risk of tuberculosis and should be more careful to avoid contact with patients. In addition, the room should be ventilated more often, which helps reduce the concentration of tuberculosis bacteria in the air and thus reduce the possibility of inhaling the bacteria.

Strengthen exercise to improve your immunity. When immunity is high, it is usually not easy to be infected with germs, because the human body can resist some of the invasion of germs. But when immunity is relatively low, tuberculosis bacteria are more likely to invade the body, increasing the incidence of tuberculosis.

Tuberculosis patients should be more aware and develop good hygiene habits, such as not spitting, not coughing or sneezing towards others, and wearing masks when traveling, to prevent the spread of the germs.

Prevent and control tuberculosis, keep everyone healthy

Let's join hands

Strive to achieve healthy breathing for everyone as soon as possible

Comprehensive sources: Xinhuanet, CCTV News, Science Refutes Rumors, etc.

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