Is tuberculosis serious?

Written by Xiong Hong Hai
Infectious Disease
Updated on November 25, 2024
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Tuberculosis is a relatively serious disease, but if it is treated and managed promptly in the early stages, it often can be brought under control and most cases can completely recover. If the disease is allowed to progress unchecked, it can develop from ordinary tuberculosis into an especially severe form of the disease, even endangering life and leading to extrapulmonary tuberculosis. The severity of tuberculosis depends largely on the extent of damage to the lungs and whether there is extrapulmonary tuberculosis. Once tuberculosis is confirmed, scientifically sound and appropriate anti-tuberculosis treatment should be undertaken.

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Written by Xiong Hong Hai
Infectious Disease
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Does tuberculosis cause a runny nose?

Individuals with tuberculosis, if accompanied by a cold and rhinitis, will also experience a runny nose. However, simple tuberculosis, without any upper respiratory infections or rhinitis, does not lead to a runny nose. Therefore, it is important to accurately analyze the issue. Common symptoms of tuberculosis include persistent coughing, coughing up phlegm, low-grade fever, night sweats, bloody sputum, chest tightness, and difficulty breathing, among others. Once tuberculosis is definitively diagnosed, it is essential to commence timely and scientifically sound anti-tuberculosis treatments. Most cases can be completely cured.

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Written by Xiong Hong Hai
Infectious Disease
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Is tuberculosis contagious?

Tuberculosis (TB) is only infectious in some patients who have a large amount of tubercle bacilli in their sputum. In fact, many patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis are not infectious. For more patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis, tubercle bacilli cannot be found in their sputum, so the actual situation must be considered. In fact, to determine if pulmonary tuberculosis is infectious, it is simple: look for acid-fast bacilli in the sputum. If the sputum acid-fast staining is positive, it indicates infectiousness. Infectious pulmonary tuberculosis requires systematic and standardized anti-tuberculosis treatment.

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Written by Wang Xiang Yu
Pulmonology
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How is tuberculosis transmitted?

How is pulmonary tuberculosis transmitted? First, we need to know the pathogen of pulmonary tuberculosis, which is the tuberculosis bacillus. Tuberculosis bacillus is a type of bacterium that can live in our surrounding environment. Pulmonary tuberculosis also needs a source of infection, that is, a patient carrying the tuberculosis bacillus. The most common source of tuberculosis infection is usually patients with secondary pulmonary tuberculosis. Then, its mode of transmission mainly includes coughing, sneezing, laughing, and talking loudly, which can release the tuberculosis bacilli from the patient into the air, spreading them through droplets. Droplet transmission is the most important route for the spread of pulmonary tuberculosis. Additionally, pulmonary tuberculosis can also be transmitted through other routes such as the gastrointestinal tract or the skin, although these methods of transmission are less common.

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Written by Hu Xue Jun
Pulmonology
1min 36sec home-news-image

Symptoms of pulmonary tuberculosis

Now let me talk about the symptoms of tuberculosis. Tuberculosis is a chronic infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which can invade many organs, with pulmonary tuberculosis being the most common. The main symptoms are respiratory symptoms and systemic symptoms. The respiratory symptoms are mainly manifested as coughing, expectoration for more than two weeks, or blood in the sputum, which are common suspicious symptoms of pulmonary tuberculosis. Generally, the cough is mild, either dry or with a small amount of mucus. When cavities form, the amount of sputum may increase, and if there is a secondary bacterial infection, the sputum may become purulent. If there is concomitant bronchial tuberculosis, it will manifest as an irritating cough. About one-third of patients will experience hemoptysis, and some may experience massive hemoptysis. If the tuberculosis lesions involve the pleura, it can manifest as chest pain. Dyspnea is more common in patients with caseous pneumonia or those with a large amount of pleural effusion. These are local symptoms. Systemic symptoms mainly manifest as fever, which is the most common manifestation, often as long-term afternoon fever, meaning it begins to rise in the afternoon or evening, drops in the morning, and then returns to normal. Some patients may also experience fatigue, night sweats, loss of appetite, weight loss, etc. Women of childbearing age may experience menstrual disorders, etc.

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Written by Wang Xiang Yu
Pulmonology
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Does tuberculosis cause fever?

Does tuberculosis cause fever? Certainly, fever can occur. Fever is one of the most common clinical manifestations of tuberculosis, which can be mild or high fever. Most cases of tuberculosis mainly present as afternoon febrile flushes, or say, an evening low-grade fever. In a few cases, such as infectious pneumonia or more severe infections like tuberculous pleurisy, there can be high fever, and these fever episodes may last a long time and be recurrent, making them difficult to control.