What is Tuberculosis (TB)? What are the symptoms of tuberculosis?

Tuberculosis, popularly known as tuberculosis, is a contagious and chronic infectious disease caused by the Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria. Although this disease specifically targets the lungs, it can also affect other organs and tissues of the body. Tuberculosis has been a feared epidemic disease for a long time, causing millions of people to die in history. Today, tuberculosis remains widespread, especially in developing countries and among individuals with weak immune systems. It continues to exist as a globally important public health problem. This serious disease, which can be fatal if left untreated, has a slowly progressive and insidious nature. It may manifest itself with symptoms that may be difficult to diagnose in the early stages. Symptoms of tuberculosis; The immune system may vary depending on the severity of the infection and which organs the disease affects. This situation is one of the factors that complicates the diagnosis and treatment process of the disease.

What is Tuberculosis (TB)?

It is an infectious disease that can cause infection in your lungs or other tissues. Although it usually affects the lungs, it can also affect other organs such as the spine, brain or kidneys. The word “tuberculosis” comes from a Latin word meaning “nodule”. Not everyone who contracts Tuberculosis, also known as TB, gets sick. However, in case of illness, you must be treated. If you are infected with the bacteria but do not have symptoms, you have inactive tuberculosis or latent tuberculosis infection (also known as latent TB). TB may appear to have disappeared. However, it remains dormant inside your body. If you are infected and showing symptoms. You have active tuberculosis or tuberculosis disease (TB disease).

What are the symptoms of tuberculosis?

A person with latent or inactive TB has no symptoms. You may have a TB infection even if you have no symptoms, but the bacteria in your body are not yet causing harm. Symptoms of active tuberculosis include:

• Cough lasting more than three weeks
• Loss of appetite and involuntary weight loss
• Fire
• Shake
• night sweats

You may experience other symptoms related to the function of the particular organ or system affected. Coughing up blood or mucus (sputum) is a sign of pulmonary tuberculosis. Bone pain may mean bacteria has gotten into your bones. These symptoms may also occur with other diseases. That’s why it’s important to see a doctor and let them know if you have TB.

What Causes Tuberculosis?

Tuberculosis bacteria spread through the air, just like a cold or flu. You can only catch this disease if you come into contact with people who have tuberculosis. When someone with tuberculosis coughs, sneezes, talks, laughs or sings, they release tiny droplets that contain the germs. When you breathe in these germs, you can get sick. Therefore, people with active tuberculosis in their lungs or throat are likely to infect others. If tuberculosis is present in other parts of the body, it is often more difficult to spread.

It is not easy to catch this disease. You’re most likely to catch it from coworkers, friends, or family members with whom you spend a lot of time indoors. Tuberculosis germs do not multiply on surfaces.

Is Tuberculosis Contagious? How is it transmitted?

It can spread through breathing, especially in the form that affects the lungs. Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacterium that causes the disease, is transmitted to others through small droplets released into the air by active tuberculosis patients when they cough, sneeze, talk or laugh. These droplets are microscopic in size. It can remain suspended in the air for a long time and, when inhaled by uninfected individuals, reach the lungs and cause infection.

These droplets can remain for a longer time, especially in closed and poorly ventilated areas. When a healthy individual inhales these droplets, the bacteria reach the lungs. Bacteria settling there can initiate infection. However, the fact that tuberculosis is contagious does not always mean that the disease will appear immediately. In only a fraction of infected individuals does the bacteria become active and cause disease. In individuals with a strong immune system, bacteria may remain inactive in the lungs. This condition is called “latent tuberculosis infection”. Individuals with latent infection show no symptoms of disease and are not contagious. However, when the immune system is weakened, this infection can become active.

Points to consider in terms of contamination are:

• Active Tuberculosis Patients: Especially patients who have not been treated or have just started treatment are in the most contagious group. Once treatment begins, contagiousness usually decreases within 2-3 weeks.
• Closed and Poorly Ventilated Environments: Such environments can cause bacteria to remain airborne for long periods of time. Collective living spaces and crowded places pose a high risk for transmission.
• Individuals with Weak Immune Systems: HIV/AIDS patients, those taking immunosuppressant medications, and individuals with other chronic diseases are more susceptible to tuberculosis infection.

What are the Tuberculosis Risk Factors?

Anyone can catch tuberculosis. However, some factors increase the risk of infection. Other factors increase the risk of infection developing into active TB disease. In particular, certain living or working conditions make it easier for the disease to pass from one person to another. To see Risk factors can be listed as follows:

• Living with someone who has active tuberculosis.
• Living or traveling to a country where tuberculosis is common
• Living or working in places where people live close together, such as nursing homes
• Working in the healthcare sector and treating people at high risk of tuberculosis

A weakened immune system increases the risk of TB infection developing into active TB disease. Conditions that weaken the immune system are as follows:

• HIV/AIDS
• Diabetes
• severe kidney disease
• Head, neck and blood cancers
• Malnutrition or low body weight
• cancer treatment
• Medicines to prevent rejection of transplanted organs
• Long-term use of prescription steroids

The risk of tuberculosis infection developing into active tuberculosis disease changes with age. Especially until children reach the age of 5, the risk of TB infection turning into active TB disease is high. The risk is higher in children under 2 years of age. Tuberculosis in this age group can often lead to a serious disease of the fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord called meningitis. In addition, the immune system weakens in older ages. Older adults have a higher risk of active TB disease. Additionally, the disease may be more difficult to treat.

How Is Tuberculosis Diagnosed?

To check for tuberculosis, your doctor may start with a physical exam that listens to your lungs and checks for swollen lymph nodes. If they think you have this disease, you may be asked to perform the following tests to diagnose tuberculosis:

• Tuberculosis skin test: This is also known as the Mantoux tuberculin skin test. A small amount of fluid is injected into your lower arm. After 2-3 days, your arm will be checked for swelling. You may need to have this test more than once.
• Tuberculosis blood tests: These tests are also called interferon-gamma release tests (IGRAs). It measures the response that occurs when small amounts of TB proteins are mixed with your blood.

If your skin test results are positive, you most likely have TB bacteria. However, you may also get a false positive result. If you have received a tuberculosis vaccine called Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG), the test may tell you that you have TB when you actually do not have TB. If your infection is very recent, you may also get a false negative result that says you don’t have TB when you actually have TB.

How to Treat Tuberculosis?

It is a disease that can usually be cured with treatment. Most people will need a course of antibiotics, which usually lasts 6 months. Several different antibiotics are used to treat tuberculosis. This is because some types of TB are resistant to certain antibiotics. If you are infected with a drug-resistant form of TB, treatment with 6 or more different drugs may be required.