[ad_1]
A microbiology consultant at the College of Medicine of the University of Lagos, Dr. Rita Oladele, discusses tuberculosis and its treatments with DOLAPO AKITOYE
What is it? Tuberculosis?
Tuberculosis is an airborne communicable disease caused by mycobacterium tuberculosis.
What are its causes?
There are many causes because it is an infectious disease. It is also an airborne disease and many people get it by inhalation. The mycobacterium is released into the atmosphere when someone who is coughing and people who come in contact with that person can catch it. People in densely populated areas and poorly ventilated homes are at risk of getting it. That's a lot, but it's just that it's something we've been able to control up to a certain point before, but that's coming back to the fore now because of HIV / AIDS . There is a close relationship between HIV / AIDS and TB.
What are the types of tuberculosis?
Tuberculosis may be pulmonary tuberculosis or extra-pulmonary tuberculosis. It depends on his presentation. Tuberculosis can affect the skin, lungs and can cause meningitis. It has been known to cause tubers in the stomach, which is abdominal tuberculosis. There are different forms of tuberculosis. With the advent of HIV / AIDS, there is now regular tuberculosis and multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. This means that TB is resistant to commonly available drugs – and there is now another entity known as extensively drug-resistant TB, also known as extensively drug-resistant TB.
What are the symptoms of tuberculosis? [19659004] Symptoms include coughing, chest pain, unexplained weight loss, and sometimes the patient will spit blood (hemoptysis). However, cough, chest pain and weight loss are the predominant manifestations of tuberculosis.
Can tuberculosis be fatal?
It depends. If it is not treated, it can have a high mortality. It also depends on the type of patient who manifests it. For example, if it is a patient with AIDS, then, of course, he will have a high mortality rate if he is not diagnosed early and treated . If tuberculosis is not treated, the mortality rates are almost 100%.
How are we diagnosed?
She is diagnosed by sputum testing. If a patient complains of cough, chest pain, weight loss, loss of appetite and that he does not usually feel well and that the doctor suspects that he / she "s is tuberculosis, he will be asked to bring three sputum early in the morning. The reason the patient will do this is because when he coughs early in the morning, it's what's going on deep in the lungs. The doctor will need the patient to cough in the throat.
For three days, the patient will report sputum to the lab. These are the three samples that the doctor will use to diagnose TB. Early morning samples are used because they are concentrated. When the sample is collected, it will be further centrifuged after it has been decontaminated, to see if TB is there. There is also a test called Acid Bacteria Test (AAFB) – which is a smear test – that can be used to diagnose tuberculosis. This is a simple test that can produce results in a matter of hours. Now, with the Global Fund, there is now a test called the GeneXpert test that is in most TB centers in the country. GeneXpert is a molecular diagnostic test and it's a very fast test that can produce results in about two hours.
It is more sensitive than microscopy – smear tests – because to perform microscopy, a qualified microscopist. For the GeneXpert, a qualified person will also be needed, but this is not technical and other people can learn to do it. A culture test can also be done to diagnose tuberculosis, but it takes about a few weeks to produce results
How is it treated?
He is treated with antibiotics. Because of the severity of TB, contact screening is done, which involves testing those living around the TB patient to make sure no one else has it, so that the disease can be controlled. If a person is diagnosed with TB and contact tracing is not done, the person can be re-infected. There is a six-month therapy that is advocated and used to treat tuberculosis. We also recommend that TB patients be treated in a place that is closest to them – an easily accessible place – and when they get there, they take the drugs in the presence of the person who administered them. After two months, they will be checked to see the clearance of the bacteria and a smear test will also be performed. This will continue until the six months are up.
Is it avoidable?
Tuberculosis can be prevented. A simple health education can prevent it. When people know the signs, symptoms and things that can predispose them, they can be avoided. We tell people to make sure their homes are well ventilated, because the wind can carry any bacteria into the atmosphere. However, when doors and windows are closed and people are at home, if someone with coughing, it can be easily transmitted.
Opening windows and doors helps to dilute the concentration of bacteria in the air. In addition, when people recognize the signs of TB, they can immediately enter the clinic and the search for contacts can be done to control it. There is also a vaccine called Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) that can be used to immunize someone against TB and is supposed to last a long time. The essence of the vaccine is that the body recognizes the bacteria; Whenever the body is exposed to it, the antibodies that have been created to protect the body fight the disease and can be avoided in this way
However, patients who have a weakened immune system, such as carriers of HIV / AIDS do not have the antibodies that will defend the body. This is why there is a close relationship between HIV / AIDS and tuberculosis.
What are the risk factors for tuberculosis?
Risk factors include overcrowding, those who have not been vaccinated and those who drink unpasteurized milk. This is because there are also diseases that affect cattle and in this country, there are always germs that follow cattle and they are not immunized or treated by veterinarians. If people drink cattle with mycobacterium bovis, they can get TB.
What complications may arise from tuberculosis?
There is a series of complications. First of all, even after treatment, some patients have cavities in the lungs. This is because of the cavities that were left there; other organisms such as aspergillus can go there, access them and cause chronic pulmonary aspergillosis. Sometimes, even after TB treatment, the lung can still collapse. Fibrosis is another complication that can arise from tuberculosis
What are the myths associated with TB?
When people do not know something, they tend to stigmatize it and TB patients fear stigma. They tend not to get treatment in time. It is also a disease that will be more prevalent among the poor than the middle class or the rich because the poor live in overcrowded environments and tend to have poor ventilation. In addition, because of the fear of stigma, there are those who will go to a clinic or center far from where they live. Then, for some people, they do not finish their treatment. Once the cough is stopped, they feel better and do not continue the treatment. If there is public health awareness, it reduces stigma and causes people to seek help early and complete their treatment
Copyright PUNCH.
All rights reserved. This material, and any other digital content on this site, may not be reproduced, published, disseminated, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without the prior written permission of PUNCH.
Contact: [email protected]
(Visited 1 times, 1 visits today)
[ad_2]
Source link
