Question

What is tuberculosis? How is the disease transmitted? Is there treatment for tuberculosis?

Answer 1

Tuberculosis is an infectious disease cause by Mycobacterium tuberculosis which generally affects lungs but is not limited to it. In case of infection in lungs, it is termed as pulmonary tuberculosis and when TB infection occurs outside lungs, it is termed as extrapulmonary tuberculosis. Both pulmonary and extrapulmonary forms of tuberculosis may co-exist with each other.

Symptoms- General signs and symptoms include fever, chills, night sweats, loss of appetite, weight loss, and fatigue.Significant nail clubbing may also occur. Prolonged cough with blood in sputum and chest pain is a common sign of pulmonary TB.

Transmission of TB- People with active pulmonary TB are responsible for spreading of bacteria through coughing, sneezing, spitting, and even speaking. People with latent infection of TB are not contagious.

Treatment of TB- Usually antibiotics such as isoniazin and rifampin are used to kill the bacteria. The treatment for TB can span several months. A combination of multiple antibiotics is used for treatment of active TB. Patients with latent TB can be usually treated with the help of single antibiotic only. Treatment should be continued for the full course as prescribed by the doctor to prevent any recurrence of the disease.

Prevention- BCG vaccine is prescribed to children to prevent the infection of TB and lowering the chances of onset of disease.