What Is Tuberculosis?
Pulmonary tuberculosis, commonly known as TB, is a contagious infection caused by the bacteria known as Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The disease gets transferred when a person inhales air droplets infected by the sneeze, cough or breath of an already infected person. Poor nutrition, and crowded and unsanitary living conditions, both of which are risk factors for the disease, make a large portion of Indians susceptible to TB. These are the main reasons why tuberculosis is so widespread in India.
What Are The Signs And Symptoms Of Tuberculosis?
Not all people infected with TB show symptoms and the bacteria remains latent in the body for quite a long period or even forever. Only a certain percentage of people infected with TB get the active disease. However, since latent TB can become active at any stage of life, it is important to treat everyone infected with TB, even if they show no signs of an active infection.
While latent TB shows no symptoms and can be diagnosed only through certain tests, the symptoms of active tuberculosis include:
- Cough with mucous, often yellowish or greenish, or blood tinged
- Feeling of lethargy and illness
- Shortness of breath
- Low grade fever
- Fatigue
- Chest, back and/or kidney pain
- Unintentional loss of weight
When Should You Contact Your Doctor?
You should contact your doctor if you have been exposed to the infection through someone who has active TB, so that you may undergo tests, and if required, treatment for tuberculosis. If you experience any of the signs or symptoms of TB, then contact your healthcare provider for immediate treatment. Since the symptoms of TB are similar to those of many other diseases like bronchitis and pneumonia, it is important to get the proper tests done before treatment for tuberculosis starts.
How Can One Prevent Tuberculosis?
The tuberculosis vaccine or BCG is administered in infancy to prevent the occurrence of TB. However, for those who have not been vaccinated, and because the vaccine is not totally fool proof, the best ways of preventing TB are:
- Avoid being in close quarters with someone who has active TB, unless that person has been treated for the disease for a period of at least two weeks.
- If someone in the family has TB, then he or she should be encouraged to get treated.
- Get tested for infection if you suspect you have been exposed to the bacteria. Remember that active TB can be prevented even in people who have been infected by the bacteria but have yet to develop the disease.
- Use face masks if you visit or work in a facility where active TB patients are treated.
Remember, TB is a notifiable disease in India!
Since May 2012, TB has been declared a notifiable disease in India. This means that anyone treating a TB patient needs to notify the government of India, and this includes health care facilities operating both under the government as well as the private sector. All tuberculosis cases being dealt with have to be reported to the municipal health officer or the chief medical officer of a municipality or district on a monthly basis.
This serious step has been taken in order to have better control over the disease, its transmission as well as its treatment. Another important factor due to which tuberculosis has been made a notifiable disease is the widespread emergence of drug resistant TB, also known as Multi Drug Resistant TB or MDR TB.
The government believes that the free advanced testing and high quality medication needed for the eradication of tuberculosis can be provided only under the Revised National TB Control Programme or the RNTCP. However, what needs to be kept in mind is that the cooperation of tuberculosis patients and their families is also of utmost importance for controlling and treating this deadly disease.
Note: Please consult your Doctor for more details and guidance. This is just for the general awareness and my honest and humble effort to educate my readers the imoprtance of keeping a healhty life and also to undersatand matters realted to the basic medical terms and common diseases. The contents of this mail is compiled from various soruces. Errors and omissions are expected.
Best Regards
Prakash Nair
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