On March 24, 1882, at the initiative of the World Health Organization (WHO), World Tuberculosis Day is celebrated throughout the world (on this day, the German doctor Robert Koch officially announced to the world his discovery of the tuberculosis bacillus).
Globally, more than 4,100 people die from tuberculosis every day, and about 28,000 people become ill with this preventable and treatable disease.
Since 2000, global efforts to combat tuberculosis have saved approximately 66 million lives. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has made its own adjustments, erasing the progress achieved in this disease control.
Tuberculosis is an infectious disease caused by various types of mycobacteria - Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Koch's bacillus), usually affecting the lungs, less often affecting other organs and systems (bones, joints, genitourinary organs, skin, eyes, lymphatic system, nervous system). If left untreated, the disease progresses and ends in death.
Sources of infection:
- A person with active tuberculosis
- Sick animal
Routes of infection:
- Airborne droplets (when coughing, sneezing, when talking to a patient, with dust containing mycobacteria).
- Contact-household (through damaged skin and mucous membranes)
- Nutritional (through food from sick livestock), is extremely rare.
Risk factors for developing tuberculosis:
- Constant contact with a sick person
- Unfavorable social and living conditions (frequent stay in stuffy, dusty, unventilated rooms)
- Long term smoking
- Overwork, poor nutrition, stress.
- Chronic diseases (lung diseases, diabetes mellitus, gastric and duodenal ulcers, alcoholism, drug addiction).
- Conditions of immunodeficiency, incl. HIV and AIDS.
Symptoms of pulmonary tuberculosis:
- Fatigue and general weakness.
- Decreased or lack of appetite, weight loss.
- Increased sweating, especially in the morning and mainly in the upper body.
- The appearance of shortness of breath during minor physical exertion.
- A slight, imperceptible increase in body temperature to 37.2-37.8⁰C.
- Prolonged, untreatable cough or cough with sputum production
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PREVENTION |
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Social |
Specific |
Non-specific |
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Increasing a person’s living standard, good balanced nutrition, having a separate apartment or house, peace of mind (minimizing stress, optimism), alternating good work and a good vacation, personal happiness, dosed physical activity, bad habits control. |
Immunization with BCG vaccine in children and adolescents. To monitor the state of anti-tuberculosis immunity and early detection of primary infection in children, intradermal tests are performed (Mantoux test, Diaskintest), which do not carry any risk of contracting tuberculosis! In adolescents over 14 years of age and adults, the method for determining early forms of tuberculosis is immunodiagnosis (Diaskintest) and fluorography once a year. |
Compliance with the rules of personal hygiene and the hygiene of your home (cleaning, ventilation, access to sunlight in the room); Strengthen the immune system, i.e. lead a healthy lifestyle (exercise and sports, give up bad habits); Regularly undergo medical check-ups, medical examinations, screening with mandatory fluorographic examination once a year. |
Sanitary prevention includes special anti-epidemic work in foci of tuberculosis infection (at the patient’s home or in the institution where the patient with tuberculosis has been identified or is staying, including medical care). This includes isolation and treatment of infectious patients in anti-tuberculosis institutions, disinfection, examination of persons in contact with tuberculosis patients, removal of tuberculosis patients from certain types of work (food production, livestock farms, public utility institutions, children's institutions, medical institutions, as well as professions associated with a wide range of communication).
