How to detect pulmonary tuberculosis in the early stages? Diagnostic methods for determining tuberculosis How to detect tuberculosis

Tuberculosis is a serious disease with a fairly significant mortality rate. A significant role in this is played not only by its prevalence, but also by the fact that for a significant period of time the disease can develop asymptomatically. This is why it is important to know how to identify tuberculosis at an early stage.

Pulmonary tuberculosis is an infectious disease caused by a group of mycobacteria that affects the respiratory system. In various cases, other organs and systems of the body may become inflamed.

The danger of the disease is determined by the following criteria:

• Hidden current. The first symptoms can manifest themselves only over time and, moreover, they may not cause concern, since they do not have a pronounced character;
• Mycobacteria of the mycobacteria tuberculosis species have a high level of vitality and easily spread in various environmental conditions;
• The causative agents of the disease can quickly become resistant to drugs, which makes treatment very difficult.
  The disease, depending on the location of the pathogen, has two main forms:
• Pulmonary;
• Extrapulmonary.

The first type accounts for more than ninety percent of cases.

Symptoms of tuberculosis at an early stage

Symptoms of the disease tend to develop gradually. And if at the first stage, when the body is directly infected and the bacteria multiply, signs of tuberculosis may be completely absent, then at the second stage, known as “latent”, certain symptoms of the disease may be noticed.

Among them are the following:

• Deterioration of health in the form of weakness of the body. You feel a loss of strength, and fatigue sets in much earlier than usual;
• Loss of body weight. This phenomenon occurs without associated reasons, such as dieting or exercise;
• Excessive sweating;
• Feeling nauseous.

Such disturbances in the functioning of the body are often not taken seriously by people, since they are very similar to the course of the common ARVI. For this reason, the manifestation of such symptoms, especially in combination and for more than two to three weeks, should raise doubts and the need to visit a doctor. Primary indicators also include headaches and enlarged lymph nodes.

• Cough. It can be either wet with sputum or dry;
• Visualization of particles in sputum;
• Pain in the chest area.

The most dangerous and undeniable sign of tuberculosis is the discharge of blood along with coughing and pulmonary hemorrhage.

As soon as the pathogen enters the body, the immune system tries to suppress it. But, if for some reason a person’s immunity is in a weakened state and is unable to resist the bacteria, the development of the inflammatory process begins. Transmission of the disease is possible even at home.

The main methods of infection include:

• Airborne. When pathogens enter the air as a result of coughing, they can remain infectious for a long time;
• Food. Tuberculosis can affect not only the human body, but also animals. If contaminated meat or other animal product has been consumed, the likelihood of infection is very high;
• Contact. A very extensive route of infection, which includes kissing, sexual intercourse with the owner of tuberculosis, and even the use of his personal belongings, for example, utensils. This category also includes the risk of infection as a result of caring for sick pets;
• From mother to child. The risk of intrauterine infection of a child from a sick mother is quite high, but not one hundred percent. It will be possible to diagnose the disease in a baby only after birth.

The absolute leader in disease transmission at all times has been and remains airborne. If a person has doubts about possible contact with a carrier of the disease, then he should think about how to identify the symptoms of tuberculosis.

Diagnostic methods

Treatment for tuberculosis is mandatory. Otherwise, death is possible. Late diagnosis of an already actively occurring inflammatory process can lead to a similar result.

For early detection of tuberculosis in children, the well-known Mantoux test is performed. It is often carried out directly in schools and kindergartens. If the test is positive, the child is additionally examined by a doctor to confirm or refute the diagnosis.

The first suspicion of developing tuberculosis in adults can be identified by a doctor by auscultation. For a more accurate diagnosis of the disease, methods such as fluorography and sputum culture are used.

This method allows you to obtain reliable results in a short time. For the purpose of early diagnosis of the disease, every adult is recommended to undergo the procedure at least once a year. The image obtained by the device allows you to clearly see foci of tuberculosis if they exist.

This is a fairly convenient diagnostic option, and for this reason it is most often used when it is necessary to provide a certificate of absence of tuberculosis to various authorities or when applying for a job.

Sputum culture

Perhaps not the most convenient method for diagnosing tuberculosis. But he plays another important role in this matter. If the diagnosis is confirmed, sputum culture can identify the strain of mycobacterium. It is this data that will allow us to select drugs that can be effective in the fight against the pathogen.

A person’s social lifestyle always carries the threat of infection with one or another type of disease. Tuberculosis is of particular concern. But if you follow the recommendations for regular diagnosis of this dangerous disease, you can be confident in your advantages over it.

Tuberculosis is a disease that affects both children and adults. It is caused by dangerous bacteria called Koch's bacillus.

The symptoms of the disease are very diverse and first of all, it is necessary to determine the form of tuberculosis and what kind of immune system a person has.

In the early stages, they do not always have a clear manifestation in men and women. And in children they can be mild, which makes diagnosis difficult.

When the signs become more noticeable, the disease is much more difficult to cure. Therefore, it is important to know how to identify tuberculosis at home.

The tuberculosis bacillus can be acquired at any age. Infection most often occurs through airborne droplets when an infected person coughs, laughs, or simply talks.

This type of lung pathology can be caught through a kiss, through dishes or other objects used by the patient. There is another way for the infection to spread - placental. Thus, a pregnant woman can infect her unborn baby.

The sources of the disease can be not only people, but also meat or milk from tuberculous animals. It is important to remember that even if the symptoms of tuberculosis are mild, it is still contagious. It's all about the duration of contact.

Weakened immunity, poor lifestyle, alcohol and drug use are the main reasons for the spread of infection.

In the absence of normal social and living conditions, infection is also possible. Often children are not protected from this disease due to their lifestyle. Therefore, early disability in children is possible.

Classification of the disease

Clinical forms of tuberculosis are divided into three main groups:

1. The first group includes tuberculosis intoxication in young children and adolescents.
2. The second group includes tuberculosis of the lungs and other respiratory organs.
3. The third group includes tuberculosis infection of the bladder, intestines, prostate, bones and other organs.

Tuberculosis is considered one of the most dangerous diseases. But it is possible to cure it if this disease is detected in a person in the early stages of development.

Therefore, it is important to respond to the changes that occur in the body. The first signs of pulmonary tuberculosis are:

These are the main symptoms of how tuberculosis manifests itself. Any of them lasts more than three weeks and is not explained by other reasons. If several symptoms appear simultaneously, you should immediately contact a medical facility and undergo examination.

Considering modern conditions, when a child is heavily loaded with lessons, it is very difficult to recognize the first symptoms. Therefore, you need to pay attention to the condition of children and take into account every sign.

It is better to worry once again or consult a doctor than to miss the moment when tuberculosis is just beginning to develop.

Symptoms of the disease are often confused with ARVI. If the temperature persists for a long time and the cough does not stop, you should definitely undergo an x-ray examination. This makes it possible to determine whether tuberculosis is developing in the lungs.

Usually the first stage can be cured with complex therapy, which consists of drug treatment, special physical activity, sufficient fresh air and a proper diet.

Tuberculosis. A disease that doesn't go away

The primary form of tuberculosis often occurs in children. There is no obvious localization of the disease and this makes its timely detection very difficult.

Symptoms of tuberculosis at an early stage are:

• irritability, sleep disturbance, increased excitability, inattention, headache;
• cough with sputum for more than 3 days;
• hemoptysis;
• loss of appetite;
• in children with a lack of weight, an enlarged liver and spleen is diagnosed;
• an allergy occurs on the front of the lower leg, it differs from other similar manifestations - these are hot red swellings that do not have clear boundaries;
• positive reaction after the Mantoux test.

Each of the criteria is non-specific and develops slowly; how to understand that you have tuberculosis is very difficult. Therefore, any suspicions should alert a person.

If you do not seek help in time, there is a risk of developing serious complications:

• cavity formation;
• fibrous-cavernous tuberculosis;
• cancerous transformation of the affected tissue.

Tuberculosis in women and men has the same symptoms. This disease can also affect other organs:

Tuberculosis is a social disease that can affect any category of the population. Therefore, it is necessary to know how long after infection tuberculosis appears.

The development time depends on several factors:

• level of immunity;
• transmission route;
• age;
• virulence, infectiousness of this particular bacterium;
• the number of rods that entered the body.

Children and older people are more likely to get tuberculosis because their bodies are more weakened.. In some cases, the pathogen enters the body, resides in it, but does not cause the development of the disease. This can continue until the immune system weakens significantly.

Over the course of a year, the human body may encounter such bacteria several times. Immunity against tuberculosis is not developed. If contact is repeated, the person may become ill again and the infection recurs.

The average time for signs of pathology to appear is from 3 weeks to 3 months. But if the body does not succumb to stress and does not suffer from exacerbation of chronic pathologies, then the incubation period can stretch up to a year.

1. Until significant discomfort appears, there are no signs of pathology.
2. Until the first signs begin to appear, the bacillus is not released into the environment, the patient is not contagious.
3. During the incubation period, the Mantoux test will be negative.

Identifying the disease at an early stage is of great importance, as it makes it possible to avoid complications and be completely cured. Infection can be prevented if it is known in advance that the patient is infected.

It is very important to know the symptoms of tuberculosis in order to identify it at home and contact a specialist in a timely manner.

For many centuries, tuberculosis has been the leading cause of mortality, claiming millions of lives every year. Today, thanks to active methods of all kinds of prevention of this disease, it was possible to stop the pandemic and transfer it to the category of an epidemic. Thanks to the development of science and pharmaceuticals, this disease can be treated quite successfully. However, the duration of therapy and the number of residual consequences are directly affected by its timely detection.

The importance of timely detection of tuberculosis

Timely detection of tuberculosis is a very important point in its treatment, since the causative agent of the disease, MTB (Mycobacterium tuberculosis), is extremely resistant to almost any influence, and is also resistant to many antimycotic drugs and quickly develops addiction to new drugs.

Few people know that the bacillus can be killed only by dividing, which occurs only once a day, and at the resting stage it is practically invulnerable. That is why the shortest course of treatment takes as long as six months, and in the presence of a large lesion or a large number of MBT, this period increases significantly and the likelihood of relapse increases. In addition, the longer mycobacterium tuberculosis is inside the body, the more harm they cause it:

1. Mycobacteria themselves are extremely allergenic, and therefore cause a severe allergic or delayed hyperrergic reaction in patients.
2. Their secretions are extremely toxic and negatively affect the patient’s nervous system, and the entire body as a whole, which is why immunity drops even in the early stages, poor health and general depression develop.
3. By affecting lung tissue, MBTs, at best, cause the development of foci of inflammation and death of lung tissue cells, instead of which pathological voids or scars of connective cells are formed, which permanently reduce the efficiency of the patient’s respiratory system with the ensuing consequences. In the case of an advanced disease, the patient may not only suffer acute respiratory failure, but also lose part of an organ, sometimes more.
4. They also affect the lymphatic system.
5. During periods of exacerbation, there is a possibility of developing sepsis or damage to other tissues of the sick person, including the membranes of the brain, which can be fatal.

If tuberculosis is detected in the early stages after infection, or even better during the latent form, when only dormant bacilli are present in the body, in addition to preventing negative consequences, it is possible to use drugs that are more gentle on the body or even just immunostimulating therapy in the form of improving living conditions, nutrition and general condition of the patient.

How to detect tuberculosis at home?

The vast majority of new cases of the disease are detected during mandatory preventive examinations, which are carried out universally from a very early age. However, there are cases when, for some reason, a person does not undergo diagnostics, which does not reduce the likelihood of infection with the ubiquitous bacilli.

The only answer to the question of how to find out at home that you have tuberculosis is no way, since this is a difficult disease to diagnose even for experienced doctors. This is why mandatory clinical testing is required for preventive purposes. However, there are still some ways to determine tuberculosis at home, although they are unreliable:

The first way to test for tuberculosis at home is to examine your surroundings for the presence of sick people or animals, especially cattle, through whose dairy products it is very easy to become infected. If a person lives in an epidemiologically dangerous area, does not have immunity to mycobacteria, communicates closely with a patient or uses common things, the probability of the presence of at least a latent form of MBT inside his body is very high.

The second way to check for tuberculosis at home is to carefully take a closer look at how you feel. This method is extremely unreliable, since the symptoms of the disease do not manifest themselves in the early stages or appear very vaguely:

• apathy, bad mood, loss of strength;
• chronic fatigue and fatigue;
• pallor;
• loss of appetite;
• decreased immunity, which is a cause rather than a consequence of infection;
• gradual slight deterioration in health;
• sometimes slight fluctuations in temperature are possible within the subfebrile range or a feeling of chills when it is normal;
• weight loss or extremely rare weight gain;
• Children may have a slight developmental delay from their peers or slow weight gain.

Many people do not pay attention to these signs or begin to remember them only when interviewing a TB doctor, when the diagnosis has already been made. More obvious symptoms, such as cough, sputum, shortness of breath, and especially pain, appear only with damage to the lung tissue, and hemoptysis only in the last stages or during periods of exacerbations. That is why medicine is still actively working, inventing more and more new ways to diagnose tuberculosis.

The best way to find out that you have tuberculosis is to undergo a preventive examination only once a year, which does not take much time, is highly effective, and is almost always carried out absolutely free, rather than relying on chance. Even experienced phthisiatricians cannot always recognize tuberculosis; how then will a person who does not have medical knowledge and is subjective about his condition do it?

Volgograd doctors talk with horror about some of their patients who were diagnosed with tuberculosis. The fact is that, even after learning about the terrible diagnosis, these people categorically refuse treatment.

At the same time, they risk not only their lives, but also the health of everyone nearby. Why is it sometimes possible to send an infected person to a hospital only through the courts?

Report by Elena Pich.

The doctors at the entrance of the high-rise building are not an ambulance. Although medical care is simply necessary here, and the most urgent one... In the apartment where doctors are so persistently trying to reach, there lives a family in which there is a patient with a contagious form of tuberculosis.

Alexandra Burkina, district nurse: “I said - you have a child. Infect both yourself and the child. I made an appointment twice for an x-ray - she didn’t show up. She started calling. Once she answered me, the second time she started hanging up.”

Phthisiatricians bypass those who should have been undergoing treatment for a long time. In one of the dormitories, a tuberculosis patient shares the same kitchen and bathroom with his neighbors. Doctors cannot warn them about the danger. Medical secrecy. However, even those who know that they can become infected do not rush to get examined.

You understand, if God forbid you become infected, the sooner you undergo the examination, the earlier we can identify the disease, the more successful the prognosis for your recovery will be.

Persuasion is the only medicine that doctors regularly dispense directly at home without a prescription or dosage restrictions. Alexander has been trying to get treatment for several years now. He agrees, but still does not go to the hospital. When asked about relatives and neighbors with small children, he simply shrugs it off.

Many, like him, are in the grip of deadly misconceptions: first, that tuberculosis cannot be cured, second, that if certain measures are taken, infection can be avoided.

On the x-ray there is a barely noticeable light cloud. This means that the person has tuberculosis and can infect others. The owner of the photo was admitted to the regional tuberculosis dispensary for treatment by court order, but after a few weeks, feeling better, he simply left the hospital.

To recover from tuberculosis, you need to spend seven to eight months in a hospital bed, strictly following all the doctors’ orders. Not all patients can withstand this treatment. And if before it was difficult to leave the clinic - there was a special regime in force, now there is not even a watchman at the gates of the dispensary. Because doctors do not have the right to hold patients against their will.

Dmitry, patient of the Volgograd Regional Tuberculosis Dispensary: ​​“A patient like this is a time bomb. He can infect a large number of people without knowing it. The disease is not visible. It doesn’t hurt.”

It was because of such people, Dmitry admits, that his life turned upside down overnight. He accidentally found out that he had contracted tuberculosis when he was undergoing a medical examination. Still doesn't know from whom. In order not to endanger her loved ones, she has not seen them for almost a year. But he is very worried - next to his family there may well be someone who, unlike him, simply does not want to fight the disease.

Dmitry, patient of the Volgograd Regional Tuberculosis Dispensary: ​​“If he doesn’t take care of himself and kills others, he is socially dangerous. Such people need to be caught and forcibly treated.”

In Russia there is a law on the mandatory referral of such “deviators” for treatment in a hospital. The chief physician of the regional TB dispensary, Professor Alexander Borzenko, sent more than a hundred claims to court this year alone.

Alexander Borzenko, chief physician of the Volgograd regional anti-tuberculosis department

dispensary: ​​“Hospitalization seems to be compulsory, but there is no compulsory treatment. And there are no specialized closed institutions where these patients should be placed.”

In the Volgograd region, the court made a decision regarding 70 patients. But only half of them underwent examination and therapy. The rest, citing a violation of their constitutional rights, refused compulsory treatment, thereby violating the constitutional right of healthy people not to be infected with a dangerous disease.

The guest in the studio is Irina Bogadelnikova, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor of the Department of Phthisiopulmonology of the Sechenov Moscow Medical Academy.

Presenter: How can you become infected with tuberculosis?

Guest: Tuberculosis is very easy to get infected with. Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a pathogen that spreads through the air, from a sick person to a healthy person, just like the influenza virus, for example.

Presenter: What is the incubation period of this disease?

Guest: Some people become ill almost immediately after infection, and some may remain apparently healthy for many years.

Presenter: What are the first symptoms? How to understand that this disease already resembles tuberculosis?

Guest: Weakness, malaise, decreased performance. But there is also an objective symptom - increased body temperature. True, the increase is small, usually up to 37.2 degrees, after 14:00 and lasts somewhere until 18:00 in the evening. But this does not happen every day, the temperature rises periodically, once every two days, once every three days.

Presenter: Such a classic symptom as a cough with bloody discharge - does this often happen?

Guest: That's correct, but cough is not an early symptom; it usually appears two months after the onset of the disease. The most reliable way to detect the presence of infection in the body today is still the Mantoux tuberculin test. It is required to carry out this test at least once a year.

In our country, this is done in relation to children and adolescents. As for adults, early detection of tuberculosis is associated with x-ray examinations, which, in general, are recommended to be carried out once a year.

Presenter: Who is at risk, who is primarily susceptible to this disease?

Guest: Those at risk, first of all, are people with weakened immune systems, so any disease that negatively affects the immune system essentially creates a predisposition in a person to contract tuberculosis, if, of course, this person becomes infected.

Presenter: How should the relatives of a person diagnosed with tuberculosis behave?

Guest: First of all, don’t panic, because tuberculosis today is a curable disease. Patients are given preventive courses of treatment, so-called preventive therapy, and if all these prescriptions are carefully followed by the doctor to family members, the risk of contracting tuberculosis is not so great.

Presenter: What is the prevention of this disease?

Guest: There is specific prevention associated with the use of anti-tuberculosis vaccine, as well as anti-tuberculosis chemotherapy drugs. And there is non-specific prevention associated with the fact that people are encouraged to eat a balanced diet, limit themselves in all bad habits, primarily smoking, of course. A healthy lifestyle creates conditions where the likelihood of disease becomes minimal.

The incubation period for tuberculosis depends on your immunity. If the body is strong, then after infection it may take several years before the first symptoms appear.

In the early stages, the development of tuberculosis may be indicated by severe weakness and fever at certain hours. But the cough appears when the disease is in full swing.

You can check whether you are infected with tuberculosis using the Mantoux test and x-rays. Therefore, doctors advise doing fluorography at least once a year.

People who have fallen ill with this terrible disease need not only medical, but also psychological help. So, if trouble happens to one of your loved ones, try to convince him that tuberculosis is not a death sentence and that with proper treatment it can be defeated.

By the way, if a person is diagnosed with tuberculosis, his relatives also need to be examined. Moreover, for the purpose of prevention, the patient’s relatives often also need to take medications and vitamins.

Tuberculosis is a severe disease caused by Koch's bacillus. Despite the development of modern medicine, the disease continues to be detected in populations of different ages. Children, adults with weakened immune systems, and the elderly are more susceptible to it than others. An important condition for successful treatment is the identification of pathology at an early stage of development. In order to seek medical help in a timely manner, it is necessary to have information on how to recognize the development of tuberculosis in the initial stage.

How to recognize the disease yourself

Knowing how to recognize tuberculosis at an early stage, you can avoid its further development and dangerous consequences. These can include damage to the lymphatic system, heart failure and even death. If you are interested in how to understand that tuberculosis is spreading in the body, you should learn to pay attention to the slightest changes in well-being.

Most people are naturally interested in how to detect tuberculosis at an early stage. At the initial stage of development, the disease often occurs with symptoms reminiscent of ARVI, which can prevent its timely detection.

Characteristic signs that a person is infected are sweating due to tuberculosis, a haggard appearance, pale skin, and sudden weight loss.

How the disease develops

No one is immune from the possibility of developing lung disease. This requires knowledge of what symptoms of tuberculosis occur after infection with Koch's bacillus. The disease can occur in a latent form for several months and even years. Having penetrated the body, the tuberculosis bacterium provokes the emergence of a specific inflammatory focus of the disease - an infectious granuloma. After this, the pathological process spreads to the patient’s lymphatic system.

In most cases, the pathology is activated against the background of a sharp decrease in immune defense. The beginning of its development are such signs as:

• dry cough that does not go away for a long time (for 20 or more days);
• low-grade fever in adults (37-37.5 C) is a symptom of tuberculosis observed in the patient for a month or longer;
• pain of moderate intensity under the ribs, intensifying at the moment of deep inspiration;
• headache, irritability, sleep disturbances.

Often, starting in the lungs, the disease spreads through the blood to the intestines, bones, and other internal organs.

The first stage of tuberculosis responds well to comprehensive treatment, which includes prescribing medications to the patient, special physical activity, daily walking, and a proper diet.

Main symptoms

To determine when tuberculosis begins, it is necessary to distinguish the main symptoms. Gradual progression of the disease leads to the appearance of:

• cough with blood, copious sputum production;
• shortness of breath even after minor physical exertion;
• increased chest pain that does not stop at rest;
• wheezing, whistling in the lungs;
• enlarged lymph nodes;
• increasing the patient's body temperature;
• characteristic shine in the eyes;
• blanching of the skin.

The patient’s “marbled” skin is combined with a bright blush on the cheeks. Such a contrast is a classic sign of illness, striking and clearly visible to others. Nocturnal hyperhidrosis in tuberculosis (excessive sweating) leads to the fact that in the morning a person wakes up wet, and his bed is soaked with sweat. A clear sign of the development of the disease is rapid weight loss (up to 10-15 kg) with adequate nutrition. The reason why patients lose weight with tuberculosis is intoxication of the body as a result of the active reproduction of Koch's bacillus.

How is tuberculosis diagnosed?

To find out if you really have it and what to do in this case, you will need to contact a medical facility. The first stage of diagnosis is taking an anamnesis, including interviewing the patient. The specialist asks questions to understand how the patient became infected with tuberculosis. They concern the following:

1. Has the person visiting the doctor ever had tuberculosis before?
2. Have there been any cases of the disease being detected among his relatives or immediate circle?
3. Whether the patient was registered due to hypersensitivity to tuberculin.
4. When a person underwent the last Mantoux, fluorography of the lungs.
5. In what conditions does the patient live, does he have contact with people recently released from prison, who have suffered from pulmonary disease.

After collecting this and other important information, the doctor proceeds to a thorough examination of the patient and conducting research. There are proven methods for identifying tuberculosis. Tuberculin diagnostics using the Mantoux test becomes mandatory. A positive or negative reaction is assessed after 3 days. It is useful to know what signs are used to detect tuberculosis.

An indicator of the presence of infection in the body is extensive redness at the site of vaccine administration (from 5 mm to 21 mm). This area is also characterized by thickening of the skin and the release of infiltrate (accumulation of cellular elements mixed with blood and lymph).

If there is a positive response to the Mantoux test, a more detailed examination will be required. The main method for diagnosing tuberculosis is fluorography (tomography, fluoroscopy). Sputum samples, blood and urine tests are also carried out. In specialized medical institutions, such informative methods for diagnosing the disease as transthoracic needle biopsy, tracheobronchoscopy, bronchoscopic lavage, and thoracoscopy (pleuroscopy) are available.

Sources of infection

The main sources of infection are sick people and mammals (large, medium-sized livestock). The greatest danger of infection exists during the period when the patient has an active form of the disease (isolation and spread of mycobacteria in sputum, urine, feces).

To prevent infection and development of tuberculosis, it is necessary to proceed from the mechanisms of transmission of infection. Knowing this will allow you to avoid situations hazardous to your health.

You can become infected after:

• being in close proximity to a carrier of the disease;
• consumption of poorly processed food (milk or meat from a sick animal);
• inhalation of dust and dried sputum particles containing Koch's bacillus (outside the patient's body
• microorganisms can remain viable for up to 18 days);
• entry of the pathogen into a person through damage to the skin or mucous membranes.

It is useful to know how to understand that a stranger has tuberculosis and be able to protect yourself from infection. The simplest preventive measure would be to minimize contact with or proximity to persons with a persistent cough. The likelihood of infection increases in the range of 2-9 m around the patient.

The possibility of infection through the nutritional route (during the consumption of products of animal origin) is several times lower than when inhaling mycobacteria in the air. It increases significantly when the patient neglects personal hygiene, and the room where he stays is not wet cleaned or routinely disinfected.

At risk are such representatives of medicine as surgeons, dentists, and pathologists. All of them regularly come into contact with the biomaterial of sick people. There is also the possibility of intrauterine infection with the tuberculosis bacillus - from women with a disseminated form, with specific damage to the placenta, and pathological processes in the birth canal.

If the reader has experience in treating tuberculosis or other important information regarding this disease, we invite you to leave a comment on this material. This can provide valuable assistance to other people facing a dangerous problem.