One of the diseases of the lungs is tuberculosis. Like every disease, it has its own symptoms, signs of pulmonary tuberculosis, and we will talk about them. The causative agent of tuberculosis is the microbacterium tuberculosis. In 1882, Professor Robert Koch discovered a bacterium bacillus in the foci of tuberculosis, and received a pure culture of the pathogen. Scientists have found that tuberculosis bacteria are highly resistant to external influences. If it enters a favorable environment, for its reproduction, the tuberculosis bacteria for a long time remain viable. Today, signs of pulmonary tuberculosis are well known.
Tuberculosis is a very complex infectious disease, which, as a rule, entails a number of complications. The infection is especially severe in children, this is due to the fact that the child’s immune system, being rather weak, is not able to withstand the infection that the body is infected with. The development and course of tuberculosis in children directly depends on the characteristics of the body. The stronger the child’s immune system, the more likely and faster he will cope with the infection. In children from birth to two years, tuberculosis infection can spread throughout the body. If we talk about older children, their immune system stops the disease at the level of the lungs. The signs of tuberculosis in a child depend on the form of the ongoing disease, as well as on the location of the process. It’s easy to recognize the symptoms of this lung disease: they are considered constant cough, fever, fatigue, decreased attention, loss of appetite and weight loss. The symptoms of this infection very often resemble the symptoms of a common cold, acute respiratory infections, or inflammation of the bronchi. Diagnosis of tuberculosis is based on complex data. Examination of the lung organ using an X-ray apparatus, a special study of sputum produced by coughing, a Mantoux skin test - all these are necessary measures that help confirm the presence or absence of tuberculosis in a child.
In percentage terms, for the first time children with pulmonary tuberculosis account for 78% of the total. Immediately after the diagnosis is clarified, treatment should be started in a timely manner, the basis of which is antibacterial therapy. In our time, TB specialists have gathered significant experience in preventive work and timely detection and treatment.
In children at any age, the disease is severe. In adolescents, a significant change in the endocrine apparatus occurs, which especially negatively affects the course of the process.
Overdue diagnosis and progressive course of pulmonary tuberculosis disease are fatal. In children, the disease is characterized by the absence of strictly specific signs, which leads to significant difficulties in diagnosis. Therefore, the main condition for timely and accurate diagnosis is a complete examination.
Signs of pulmonary tuberculosis can be detected with a periodic diagnosis, which is carried out using a Mantoux test, once a year, starting from the first year; and to children and adolescents who are not vaccinated against tuberculosis once every 6 m, starting from 6 m of age before the vaccine is given. Fluorography is carried out for adolescents, students, working. The examination is carried out at the place of work or study, in polyclinics and TB dispensaries.
Symptoms of tuberculosis in children are no different from general ones. Diagnosis of tuberculosis is carried out through a combination of diagnostic tests. From the moment tuberculin was created, and until that day, the corresponding test has not lost its role and remains the main method for detecting tuberculosis in children and adolescents. Subcutaneous injection of tuberculin into the human body, which is previously infected both by spontaneous infection with tuberculosis and due to vaccination, causes a reaction corresponding to this disease, which plays a large role in the diagnosis.
In childhood, the main means of preventing tuberculosis is the BCG vaccine. It serves to form artificial immunity to this infectious disease, has become the most massive and effective preventive measure of modern medicine. You suspect signs of pulmonary tuberculosis, what should I do? You should contact a medical institution for examination and treatment, which can prevent the development of tuberculosis, it is prescribed by a phthisiologist.