A rod shape acid- fast bacillus called mycobacterium tuberculosis discovered by Dr Robert Koch causes tuberculosis.
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Many of the rural people find it difficult to believe it and yet it is a proven fact that without this bacillus, tuberculosis cannot exist. However, there are other known contributing factors that helps the bacillus ,once present ,to find the favourable place in which to multiply, thereby causing the disease.
Overcrowding Causes the air in the house of the untreated coughing tuberculosis patient to be highly contaminated with TB bacilli.
Poor nutrition and disease condition that causes lower resistance will favour the multiplication of the bacillus in the body.
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The spread of this disease is by air and can only take place if all the followings are true at the same time.
- Coughing and
- Has a positive sputum smear.
- Not taking tuberculosis drug.
- In a closed room or poorly ventilated room.
- For a long time (days/weeks)
- Host- Susceptible person (negative skin test and unvaccinated)
If an uninfected person lives in an infectious environment , he may be breathe in the microscopic TB germs.
If the germs are able to survive in the lungs of the new host they will begin to grow and multiply in that spot. Some othe germs will be drained to the lymph glands at the base of the lungs , thereby causing the inflammation of these internal glands. This may take up to 3 to 8 weeks to develop .The course of events describeed here may be called primary tuberculosis. There are rarely any signs or symptoms at this period. If the body resistance is poorly develop, progressive primary tuberculosis may develop. Some of the TB germs get in to blood stream and lodge in nearly all the organs of the body where they multiply , causing non- pulmonary tuberculosis. Non- pulmonary tuberculosis may included as a complication of primary tuberculosis.
SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS
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Coughing lasting more than one month is the commonest symptom of active tuberculosis; anyone with this symptom must have a sputum test for tuberculosis. It's also necessary to state categorically that not everyone with cough lasting more than one month will have tuberculosis . Other conditions causing chronic cough include ; Asthma, chronic bronchitis, excessive cigarettes smoking, lung abscess, heart failure, HIV /AIDS, paragonimiasis etc. A chronic cough that produces sputum or blood is suspicious for TB.
Sputum can be described as bloody, purulent, mucous or salivary or mixture of these such as muco purulent. Blood in the sputum could be due to tuberculosis; but it could also be due to bronchiectasis, paragonimiasis, pneumonia ,mitral stenosis etc.Weight loss or emaciation will be present along side with other signs. Of course there are many other causes of weight loss such as poor nutrition , diabetes , digestive diseases etc.
Fever is noticeable in most but not all. There are many other causes of fever.
Other signs include ; night sweat, pain in the chest or upper back, lighter skin colour .
If by any means, you have these symptoms don't hesitate to visit your doctor.
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