Early detection for effective treatment of tuberculosis

Early detection of tuberculosis not only helps reduce the source of infection in the community but also helps increase the rate of cure. However, many patients are still subjective about this disease…

Mr. LVĐ. (67 years old, in Ea Rok commune, Ea Sup district) had a bad cough. Thinking it was a common cold, he bought cough medicine to take. The cough improved but then relapsed and he coughed up more phlegm, along with chest tightness and difficulty breathing. He went to the Central Highlands General Hospital for examination and was diagnosed with tuberculosis.

Like Mr. D., Ms. HMB (27 years old, in Krong Bong district) had a long time of buying medicine to take when she had symptoms of cough with phlegm, shortness of breath, and chest tightness. She went to a private clinic for examination and was diagnosed with bronchitis. After a long period of treatment, her condition did not improve. Recently, when she suffered from severe weight loss, weakness, high fever, and inability to walk, Ms. HMB was taken by her family to Dak Lak Lung Hospital for examination and necessary tests, only to find out that she had tuberculosis.

Patients with pulmonary tuberculosis are treated at Dak Lak Lung Hospital.

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Take care

Currently, the Department of Pulmonary Tuberculosis, Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis, HIV-TB (Dak Lak Lung Hospital) is treating 18 patients with severe tuberculosis and drug-resistant tuberculosis. Most of these cases come to the hospital when the disease has progressed severely and there are signs of health exhaustion, such as: difficulty breathing, continuous cough, lots of phlegm, chest tightness, weight loss, continuous high fever, inability to eat or drink or loss of appetite, requiring long-term treatment. The reason why many tuberculosis patients come to the hospital late is because tuberculosis has signs and symptoms similar to respiratory diseases, such as bronchitis, pneumonia, etc., so many people mistake it for the common cold; from there, they subjectively do not go to a specialized medical facility for examination. By the time they go to the examination, the disease has progressed severely.

Dr. Nong Thi Diem, Head of the Department of Pulmonary Tuberculosis, Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis, HIV-TB (Dak Lak Lung Hospital) said: Tuberculosis is an infectious disease, transmitted mainly through the respiratory tract from people with pulmonary tuberculosis with tuberculosis bacteria in sputum to healthy people through direct contact. Any age is at risk of contracting tuberculosis. However, if you know how to prevent, detect early or comply with the correct treatment of tuberculosis, the disease can be completely cured. On the contrary, late detection and treatment, incorrect treatment, failure to comply with the instructions of a specialist will cause drug-resistant tuberculosis, more severe tuberculosis, more difficult to treat, low success rate of treatment or can cause complications such as: effusion, pneumothorax, pulmonary fibrosis, respiratory failure, hemoptysis, infection, sepsis, transformation into malignant tuberculosis... and can be fatal.

The most susceptible cases of tuberculosis are people with HIV, people with immunodeficiency, malnutrition, people with chronic diseases (diabetes, hypertension, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, kidney disease, patients undergoing cancer treatment, etc.), people who are frequently exposed to sources of infection (medical staff)... Tuberculosis has many different forms, but the most common is pulmonary tuberculosis, the rest are extrapulmonary tuberculosis such as: lymph node tuberculosis, pleural tuberculosis, meningeal tuberculosis, peritoneal tuberculosis, bone and joint tuberculosis... Tuberculosis is often easily transmitted, especially to people with weak health and low resistance.

“When there are signs of cough, cough lasting more than two to three weeks, coughing up blood, chest pain, shortness of breath, fever in the afternoon, night sweats, loss of appetite, fatigue, unexplained weight loss, etc., you need to go to a specialized tuberculosis medical facility immediately for timely diagnosis and treatment. At the same time, to prevent tuberculosis from spreading to the community, people with tuberculosis should wear a mask or a handkerchief to cover their mouth when coughing, sneezing, spitting phlegm, or talking to others; wash their hands regularly with soap; and dry blankets, mats, quilts, mattresses, or related items in the sun every day. People who have not had tuberculosis, especially young children, should get the BCG vaccine. People with diabetes, malnutrition, people with HIV/AIDS, smokers, people in direct contact with sources of infection, etc. are very susceptible to tuberculosis, so they must have regular health check-ups to detect and treat it promptly,” Dr. Diem recommends.

Source: https://baodaklak.vn/y-te-suc-khoe/202504/phat-hien-som-de-dieu-tri-hieu-qua-benh-lao-b811d74/