With the weather changing day by day, many types of diseases are causing people serious concern. Tuberculosis epidemic is now shaking the people of the city who are already suffering from viruses like covid and influenza. Although it is not fatal, it can cause serious problems in the long run. These are the details given by Pulmonologist Dr. DS Saujan of Kamineni Hospitals on the occasion of ‘World Tuberculosis Day’ on March 24.
Statistics show that three lakh people die every year due to tuberculosis in our country at the rate of three every minute. Along with increasing pollution and smoking, doctors suggest to detect the disease at the right time and use medicines. Many people think that tuberculosis only affects the lungs. But it has been revealed that it can occur in any part of the body. According to hospital sources, there is a possibility of this disease infecting bones, lymph glands, brain membranes, urinary tract and intestinal system. This disease mostly targets the lungs.
Symptoms of TB
The main symptoms are non-stop cough for more than four weeks, profuse cough with expectoration, fever in the evening and night, sudden weight loss, and lack of appetite.
Diagnostic Tests
Diagnosis is easy through some standardized tests as advised by expert doctors. This disease can be diagnosed by sputum smear, chest X-ray, sputum culture tests. The newly available nucleic acid amplification test can detect this disease in a simple way in just 100 minutes. This test called NAAT is based on DNA. Provides three times better results in detecting caries.
Who is at risk?
Children with weak immune system, the elderly, people infected with HIV, and adults who are malnourished are at risk of contracting tuberculosis easily. With a few precautions, it is possible to be careful not to get infected or lose life if infected. If one tuberculosis patient is not cured, there is a risk of infecting 15 to 20 people.
When that person coughs or sneezes, about 40 thousand pathogenic germs are mixed in the environment and there is a possibility of entering others. When the immune system is weakened, they flourish and tuberculosis emerges. It is for this reason that the doctors suggest that the tuberculosis patient should be kept in a separate room and treated closely, until the disease is cured. It is necessary to convince the tuberculosis patient to use the drugs correctly and to provide them with nutrition in order to withstand the minor side effects of the drugs used as part of this treatment. Stopping the drug or taking it intermittently can cause the bacteria that cause TB to become more active. This makes the disease in the patient more resistant to drugs. Doctors at Kamineni Hospital said on this occasion that almost ten percent of the tuberculosis patients in the country are suffering from drug-resistant TB. Any disease can be controlled in its early stages. But what can’t be done if the same calculation is advanced. Therefore, doctors suggest that tuberculosis patients should start treatment as soon as the disease is diagnosed and use medicines until it is completely reduced.
Also Read: What is Halim? How do you do it? Good for health?
Get the more latest posts on Lifestyle