General Information About Tuberculosis
Disease Details and Frequently Asked Questions
It is a highly insidious and chronic infectious disease caused by the Tuberculosis bacillus (Koch's bacillus), which typically colonizes the lungs, causing cheese-like tissue necrosis (caseous necrosis) and excavating cavities (caverns) within the lung parenchyma.
It is transmitted EXCLUSIVELY via the AIRBORNE (Respiratory) route. It spreads when invisible droplet nuclei (bacilli), expelled into the air by a patient with active pulmonary tuberculosis during coughing, sneezing, or speaking, are inhaled into the lungs of a healthy individual. These droplets can remain suspended in the air for hours. It is ABSOLUTELY NOT TRANSMITTED by sharing glasses, forks, towels, through blood, or by shaking hands with the patient.
In 90 out of 100 people who inhale the TB microbe, a robust immune system isolates the pathogen, encasing it in a calcified shell (granuloma) and rendering it dormant. This condition is termed 'Latent TB'. These individuals are not sick, they do not cough, and they DO NOT transmit the disease to anyone.
However, if the individual's immune system collapses (due to cancer, HIV, profound stress, severe malnutrition, etc.), that dormant microbe reactivates and initiates 'Active Tuberculosis' disease.
1. Persistent Cough: A cough lasting longer than 2-3 weeks, unresponsive to standard cough syrups.
2. Hemoptysis (Coughing up Blood): Expectoration of fresh blood mixed with sputum when an ulcerative lesion erodes a pulmonary blood vessel.
3. Night Sweats: Profuse nocturnal diaphoresis (sweating enough to drench pajamas and pillows as if water was poured on them) accompanied by a low-grade fever.
4. Anorexia (loss of appetite) and rapid, consumptive Weight Loss (which is why it was historically termed the 'wasting disease').
In a patient presenting with an unrelenting cough, a Chest X-ray typically reveals white infiltrative lesions or cavities (especially in the apical lung zones). Definitive diagnosis is established by the microscopic identification or culture growth of Acid-Fast Bacilli (AFB) in the Sputum, provided by the patient early in the morning on an empty stomach.
PPD (Tuberculin) Skin Test: An intradermal injection on the forearm that indicates whether you have been exposed to the microbe, but it cannot differentiate between an active or latent infection.
In Turkey, the treatment of a patient diagnosed with tuberculosis is provided FREE OF CHARGE (at Tuberculosis Dispensaries).
Because the TB bacillus possesses an exceptionally resilient protective cell wall, it cannot be eradicated by a single antibiotic. The patient is simultaneously initiated on a regimen of 4 different potent antibiotics (Isoniazid, Rifampin, Pyrazinamide, Ethambutol).
The Golden Rule (DOT): Therapy must continue for AT LEAST 6 MONTHS. Even if the patient feels perfectly well (cured) after 1 month of medication, they must NEVER discontinue the drugs. Premature cessation causes the microbe to mutate into an invincible 'superbug' (Drug-Resistant TB), extending the treatment duration to 2 years. After 2 weeks of regular medication compliance, the patient's 'infectiousness' ceases completely, ensuring they pose no risk to their loved ones.
Our health library contents are prepared for informational purposes only and with scientific data available at the time of recording. For all your questions, concerns, diagnosis, or treatment regarding your health, please consult your doctor or a healthcare institution.
