Sometimes, after receiving the analysis, the doctor pronounces the phrase "latent course of the disease." What is it, how to understand such a turn of speech? Could latent current be less dangerous?
There are cases in medical practice when a disease caused by a virus or bacteria has not an open, obvious course, but a hidden one. Then they talk about latent flow.
Latent - meaning of the word
The latent word from Latin latens (-entis) is translated as "implicit", "hidden". This term is used in medicine to determine the implicit smoothed type of the course of a viral or bacterial infection. Or, when the infection manifests itself, but it is not possible to find the virion with the help of a laboratory test for some reason.
Many diseases, for example, viral infections, such as herpes, pyelonephritis, TORCH infections, hepatitis virus and others, can occur covertly and imperceptibly.
Latent current - what does it mean?
Not always an infection, once in the body, openly manifests itself. Sometimes a virus behaves covertly; it lives quietly in a cell. After dividing it passes into daughter, but does not leave toxins and does not cause any signs of disease. In medicine, this phenomenon is called the latent course of the disease.
The virus under certain conditions, for example, with reinfection, can manifest itself. Then a person suddenly discovers that he is sick, although there were no prerequisites for this.
For the patient, this is not good, but not entirely bad. You just need to be aware that this infection is present in the body, and be on your guard. Since when the immune system is weakened, the disease will immediately declare itself.
Sometimes, if the virus has been in the cell for a long time and could not appear, its membrane is tightly closed, and the RNA of the virus cannot exit and create problems for its carrier. Such a virus will forever remain sealed in the cell.
What determines the type of viral infection?
What is the reason that in some people the virus appears immediately, while in others only a latent type of disease is diagnosed?
Immunologists believe that the type of disease can be associated with two factors:
- The sensitivity of the body to the pathogen. Some types of virions cause illness only in children. And the immune system of an adult is quite strong and does not succumb to the weak effects of the virus.
- A small amount of viruses enters the body, which cannot counteract leukocytes. Therefore, the virus behaves non-aggressively. He is only trying to survive in new conditions for him.
The disease can be present in the body for many years and not manifest until the person has a cold. During acute respiratory infections, the immune system weakens, there are no barriers to infection, then the first symptoms appear.
Cytomegalovirus in adults and children
One of the so-called TORCH infections is cytomegalovirus (CMV). It affects pregnant women and causes complex pathologies in newborns. CMV is also very often latent. In adults, the infection proceeds almost imperceptibly. In young children, the following symptoms may occur:
- jaundice;
- pneumonia;
- lungs or moderate severity of central nervous system damage;
- diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and genitourinary system, which periodically recur.
In adults, it is usually not even necessary to check for the presence of this infection. Exceptions are still there. Know about the presence of infection is necessary for those who plan to go on a course of radiation, who have AIDS, as well as young women planning a pregnancy.
Is there a threat if the infection has long been in the body, but does not provoke any complications? If it is truly CMVI, latent flow is usually harmless.
Chronic renal failure
Renal failure may be acute, and may be chronic; they also distinguish a subclinical course with a very long latent period.
A patient with a subclinical course has dry mouth, general weakness, and nausea. But there are usually no classic symptoms or pain in the kidneys. Therefore, the patient does not suspect at all that he needs to see a doctor and check his kidneys. The main symptom that indicates the need for tests is polyuria, which gradually turns into oliguria.
It often happens that a prolonged latent course of chronic renal failure (chronic renal failure) leads to the need for hemodialysis. This type of therapy is used quite often. Treatment of chronic renal failure with subclinical or latent course is standard. If necessary, prescribe adsorbents and anti-inflammatory. Antibiotics are prescribed only when an infectious agent is found.
In the latent course of pyelonephritis, which leads to renal failure, they may find in the analysis an increased rate of erythrocyte sedimentation rate - above 12 mm / h. Leukocyturia is observed - up to 25 thousand in 1 ml of urine.
To study the causes of inflammation, if any, an ultrasound of the kidneys, angiography of the vessels of the organ and also a sonogram are performed. On the sonogram, you can see a cyst, an extension of the renal pelvis or stones in them. Only occasionally an excretory urogram is used.
What is reinfection?
The term “reinfection” means that the infection has re-entered the body during treatment or after complete cure. The latent course of some infections, for example, rubella virion, after reinfection passes into a clear, open form. When the number of viruses increases sharply due to re-infection, the infection begins to appear more actively, the first signs appear.
Latent tuberculosis
Koch's wand, like other infections, can cause a latent disease. Tuberculosis, even with a latent form of the course, is subject to immediate treatment for 6 months in a hospital.
In large cities with harmful living conditions, the tuberculosis virus is very common. With a latent course of the disease, a person can become infected again.
Antibodies LgG and Lg M
Antibodies are protein molecules that the body produces in response to the action of a pathological agent that has penetrated inside.
When the body gradually adapts and searches for means to fight against a bacterium or virus, Lg M antibodies are formed in the blood. This class of antibodies makes up only 10% of all fractions of immunoglobulins. But he is very active and at the same time activates other defense mechanisms.
Class G antibodies give the main immune response, or they are also designated as LgG. If these antibodies are found predominantly in a blood test, then the disease is in an acute stage. They are activated after 5 days in the normal course of the disease. But with a latent course of LgG, a pathogenic microorganism is not noticed.
To determine some diseases, for example, hepatitis of different strains, there are special tests to detect antibodies that can be carried out at home.
LgG can cross the placenta to the fetus. And therefore, often at birth, the child has some kind of protection, although still weak.
The recovery process is usually indicated by the antibodies Lg A, which usually circulate in the circulatory system. Sometimes it happens that there were no signs of infection, but antibodies are present in the blood. This means that the disease passed in a latent form.
Is it possible to diagnose a disease with a hidden course?
Finding a latent disease using conventional diagnostic methods is a rather difficult task. If the virus does not manifest itself, then antibodies in the blood will not be detected. A slight weakness, which sometimes occurs, a person can take for overwork.
Doctors cannot find the virus with routine diagnostic tests because the pathogen is often mutated. And the tests are designed only for standard strains. Another reason is that the virus is still too weak. Each disease has a latent period, when viruses actively multiply and gain strength to confront antibodies.
You can find the virus when it enters the active phase and begins to multiply, causing harm to the body. Or when, at the end of the latent period, it is still possible to "detect" a pathogenic organism with diagnostic tests and give it a definition.
Tuberculous latent infection can be identified by two parameters. Firstly, if there is a marker of predisposition to the disease. Secondly, a reduced cytokine index is detected. Then a person can be safely diagnosed with "latent tuberculosis." This means that it is already necessary to plan treatment measures and register a person in a tuberculosis dispensary.
Treatment
In each case of the disease with a latent course, the treatment will be different. Some bacteria respond to some antibiotics, while others are difficult to treat with drugs. For example, the same cytomegalovirus "integrates" into the DNA of the cell and it is generally impossible to "get" out of it or to act on it with drugs. The host organism simply adapts to the pathogen.
If anicteric hepatitis B is suspected, the patient may be prescribed a special diet to maintain the liver. But while there are no official test results confirming the presence of hepatitis, no treatment is carried out.
Prevention
As in many cases of infection with pathogenic organisms, as a preventive measure, it is recommended to walk more often in the fresh air, play sports and temper your body.
Patients with a latent course of a disease do not release viruses into the environment. You do not need to isolate them. They can even contact family. They become contagious only when the disease passes into the active stage.
conclusions
So, how does latent differ from the usual acute or chronic course of the disease? The latent course of the disease is a hidden process. Pathogens in this course can be either passive, or their influence is so weak that the immune response to them is not noticeable.
It is usually not possible to detect antibodies using a biochemical blood test with this course of the disease. Inflammatory processes in the body sometimes go away without a trace, and sometimes even completely absent.