Tuberculosis: myths and truth.

Every year in the world, 10 million people fall ill with tuberculosis, 3 million die, of which 8 thousand daily. And these are far from complete statistics. What do you need to know about tuberculosis?

"Tuberculosis is a disease of the poor and homeless"?

Unfortunately, this is not the case. In fact, when certain factors that reduce the body's defenses coincide, all categories of the population are at risk of contracting tuberculosis. No one is guaranteed to be protected from this disease, as mycobacteria are transmitted by airborne droplets, as well as colds.

"Every person who gets a Koch stick gets sick."

Not always the ingress of bacteria (infection) causes the development of the tuberculosis process. The disease develops with poor quality of life, exhausting work, emotional stress, in the presence of various chronic diseases in the body that weaken the immune system, for example, diabetes mellitus, diseases whose treatment requires long-term use of hormonal drugs, peptic ulcer of the stomach and duodenum, mental illnesses accompanied by a depressive state. The duration of contact, the massiveness and aggressiveness of the causative agent of tuberculosis are also important.

"All patients are contagious."

This is not so: there are bacillar," open forms "with decay, there are" closed " - without bacilli release.

The danger to others is a patient with pulmonary tuberculosis in the presence of bacterial excretion. Therefore, for the period of the presence of bacterial excretion, it should live separately from healthy individuals. But even if the patient has bacterial excretion, modern approaches provide for his stay at home in the presence of a separate room and compliance with the rules of infection control: wearing a surgical mask, regular ventilation of the room, the presence of UV lamps.

"Patients with HIV infection are most susceptible to tuberculosis."

It's true.In HIV-positive patients, tuberculosis develops 20-40 times more often, and the disease itself is more rapid and severe. Often, generalized forms develop with damage not only to the lungs, but also to other organs.

"Tuberculosis is an exclusively pulmonary disease."

Tuberculosis can affect all human organs and tissues: eyes, bones, skin, genitourinary system, intestines, brain, peripheral lymph nodes, spine, etc.

"Tuberculosis is incurable."

Currently, the possibilities for a complete cure are very large, but patience and time are needed. There are special situations with tuberculosis-a combination with HIV infection, diabetes mellitus, infection with a tuberculosis pathogen resistant to antibacterial drugs, but in this case there are possibilities of therapy. The success of treatment depends on the timely detection of the disease and on the patient's compliance with the treatment regimen.

"Smoking contributes to tuberculosis."

Smoking is indeed shown in the tuberculosis treatment protocol as a risk factor, increasing the risk of tuberculosis by 15%. This is due to the adverse effect of smoking on the protective and draining function of the mucous membranes of the lungs.

"The Mantoux test is completely useless. It is better to immediately do a Diaskintest, which will show exactly whether the child is sick or not."

The tasks of these tests are different. The Mantoux test is given to children under the age of 8 years to see the immune response of the body not only to possible tuberculosis, but also to assess the state of post-vaccination immunity.

Starting from the age of 8, Diaskintest is used to detect tuberculosis in children. A positive reaction to Diaskintest indicates the presence of active, multiplying mycobacterium tuberculosis in the child's body, which means that the formation of tuberculosis foci in any organ is possible.

"Fluorography shows foci of tuberculosis in the lungs of a child, so it should be done for children with suspected tuberculosis"

Fluorography will not help with the early detection of tuberculosis in a child. Changes in the lungs less than 1 cm are not visible.  In children with suspected tuberculosis, it is necessary to make an X-ray or tomographic examination of the chest organs. The greatest information about pathological changes is provided by computed tomography.

 "Vaccinations do not save you from tuberculosis."

That's not true. In our country, all healthy newborn children are vaccinated against tuberculosis with the BCG-M vaccine. This is a gentle vaccine, optimally adapted for newborns. It forms antitubercular immunity in the still immature child's body and helps to fight the mycobacterium that has entered the body, prevents the most dangerous generalized forms of tuberculosis from developing. After the BCG vaccination, immunity persists for 5-6 years, so at 6 or 7 years, the child is given a second and last vaccination with the BCG vaccine.

What reduces the risk of getting tuberculosis?

A healthy lifestyle, proper nutrition, rest, timely access to medical care in case of problems, as well as regular monitoring of the state of health of your local (family) doctor and/or a specialist.

Phthisiatrician

GUZ " Lipetsk Regional TB Dispensary» 

Evchik Svetlana Grigoryevna.