Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the most contagious diseases caused by the spread of germs from person to person. It primarily affects the lungs, but other organs, for instance, the brain, kidney or spine, can also be damaged by Tuberculosis. It’s a fatal disease that can cause death to a person if not treated quickly.
TB germs can stay in the air when a person with TB coughs, sneezes or speaks. These airborne germs can infect a person who breathes in the same air. However, the spread of these germs depends on the environment.
General symptoms of TB include weakness, high fever, sudden weight loss and night sweating. A person with Tuberculosis also experiences chest pain, severe coughing with blood in their coughs. People with HIV also have a high chance of developing Tuberculosis. However, a survey proves that 94.5% of HIV patients are also asymptomatic TB patients due to a poor immune system.
There are two different kinds of tests which are used to detect the presence of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis.
A positive test indicates the presence of infection in the person. Further testing, for instance, chest x-ray and a sputum sample, are done to determine whether the person has latent TB infection (LTBI) or has just progressed to TB.
Mostly TB is treated with a combination of medicines that are antibacterial. Commonly administered is isoniazid INH with a combination of three more drugs, i.e., rifampin, pyrazinamide and ethambutol. After the consumption of these drugs, you may start to feel better for a few weeks, but it is more complicated to treat TB than other bacterial infections.
Usually, a doctor prescribes a 6-month course of a combination of antibiotics which should be taken continuously. If you stop taking the antibiotic before the completion of the course, then there are likely chances to be infected again, or the TB bacteria will develop resistance to the antibiotics.
In some cases, for instance, in latent TB, doctors recommend some other treatments like long-term steroids, chemotherapies that might weaken the immunity system, or biological inhibitors to prevent the infection becoming active again.
In some cases, the antibiotic for the treatment of TB can cause eye damage. There are other risk factors that should be reported to your doctor as soon as possible:
Make sure that your doctor knows about all the medications you are taking to prevent additional side effects or medication interference.