Manual on meat inspection for developing countries

Persistent Cough: When To Get Tested For Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis, or TB, is a global health concern. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), about one crore people develop TB every year, and despite being a preventable and curable disease, 10.5 lakh people succumb to it.

TB is a highly infectious disease caused by a bacteria called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It most often affects the lungs but can also infect other parts of the body, such as the kidneys, spine, brain, lymph nodes, bones, and joints. One of the most common symptoms of TB is cough, which many neglect as other benign conditions and infections can also lead to it. So, how do you know when you should get tested? In an interaction with the OnlyMyHealth team, Dr Satish C Reddy, Senior Consultant Pulmonologist, CARE Hospitals, Hitech City, Hyderabad, discussed the same and shared who should be more careful.

Also Read: Tuberculosis Can Affect The Breasts Too! Expert Explains Breast Tuberculosis In Detail

Common Symptoms Of Tuberculosis (TB)

Interestingly, not all people infected with the TB bacteria develop symptoms or spread the germ. This is called inactive TB, as the bacteria can remain dormant in the body for years. However, if left undetected and untreated, it can become active anytime, making one extremely sick.

"Early detection and differentiation from other respiratory conditions are crucial for effective management," said Dr Reddy. To assist you in detecting the same, here are some of the most common symptoms of Tb to note:

Persistent cough

Prolonged fever

Night sweats

Weight loss

"If TB affects other organs (extra pulmonary TB), symptoms vary widely; for instance, it can cause swollen lymph nodes or back pain if it spreads to the spine," Dr Reddy added, urging people to recognise these symptoms, even when they don't involve the lungs.

When Should People With Persistent Cough Get Themselves Tested For TB

From asthma to chronic bronchitis to lung cancer, persistent cough can have various causes. However, TB-related cough may have distinct features that could make it easier to detect it on time.

Dr Reddy shared that a cough lasting over 2-3 weeks, especially if it doesn't improve with standard treatments, should prompt consideration of TB testing.

He added that early testing is particularly important in high-risk areas or if additional symptoms such as fever, night sweat, or weight loss are present.

Common tests to detect TB include the Tuberculin Skin Test (TST) and Interferon-Gamma Release Assays (IGRAs) for initial screening. Active TB is diagnosed using sputum smear microscopy and culture, while advanced tests like GeneXpert MTB/RIF provide quick detection and resistance information. Chest X-rays and CT scans are used to evaluate lung damage.

Also Read: Tuberculosis: Here Are Some Of Its Types You Must Know

Who Should Be More Vigilant?

According to the WHO, many factors, social, economic, and health-related, contribute to the risk of a TB epidemic. These include undernutrition, diabetes, HIV infection, alcohol use disorders, and smoking.

Some people may be more at risk of developing TB than others. Some risk factors include:

A weakened immune system (e.G., HIV/AIDS)

Close contact with someone with active TB

Living in crowded conditions

Substance abuse

Working in high-risk environments

Therefore, public health measures like vaccination and improving living conditions are key to reducing TB spread, Dr Reddy emphasised.

Conclusion

TB is a life-threatening disease. But the good news is that it is preventable as well as curable. The key is to detect it early and ensure timely and proper treatment. A cough that lasts for over 2-3 weeks should be addressed, particularly if it is accompanied with other symptoms, such as fever, night sweats, and unexplained weight loss. Consult a doctor to confirm your diagnosis and discuss strategies to fasten your recovery process.

Disclaimer

All possible measures have been taken to ensure accuracy, reliability, timeliness and authenticity of the information; however Onlymyhealth.Com does not take any liability for the same. Using any information provided by the website is solely at the viewers' discretion. In case of any medical exigencies/ persistent health issues, we advise you to seek a qualified medical practitioner before putting to use any advice/tips given by our team or any third party in form of answers/comments on the above mentioned website.

Global And Immigrant Health Work

Item Definition

The Global TB program worked under the 2014 expansion of Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital in Papua New Guinea. The Global TB Program collaborated with Dr. Henry Welch and other faculty from the Papua New Guinea School of Medicine to improve care and treatment of families affected by TB.

One of these areas includes the development of postdoctoral projects in TB research. These projects focused on the areas of improving the diagnosis of TB in children, evaluating the utility of GeneXpert on gastric and fine needle aspirate samples in PNG children. Two paediatric trainees have been published, and one of them has presented at the International Union Against TB and Lung Disease

Over the last 4 years, the Global TB program has been working with the PNG Paediatric Society to introduce a new child-friendly TB medication. In December, 2015 a new child-friendly TB medication became available worldwide. In anticipation of this, the Global TB Program helped coordinate with local partners including the World Health Organization (WHO) the first ever national workshop in child TB. The workshop took place Nov. 2016 and served to update/educate issues surrounding pediatric TB and included clinicians from all 22 provinces in the country. Approximately 80 participants were in attendance including stakeholders from the Burnett Institute, World Vision, UNICEF, TB Alliance, MST, and Australian DFAT. In addition to the introduction of the new FDC, Dr. Anna Mandalakas lectured and met with local partners on the cost-effectiveness of isoniazid preventive therapy (IPT).

Working with the PNG Paediatric Society, PNG became the 1st country in the Western-Pacific Region, and the 4th country worldwide to introduce this medication under a locally owned and directed initiative known as the Child TB Project. This project is ongoing and is works toward improving diagnosis, care, treatment, and prevention for families with TB. Since its inception, the project has secured funding into its' 4th year from the Australian DFAT and the Baylor International Pediatric Aids Initiative. A monitoring and evaluation system has been established to report on these outcomes and decrease lost to follow up.

In the area of multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB), the Global TB Program has worked with the National Department of Health and local partners to update national guidelines for both drug sensitive and drug resistant TB. Finally, they have implemented these practice guidelines at the largest referral hospital in the country at Port Moresby General Hospital. Since 2014, the Baylor Global TB Program has worked side by side with staff to diagnose and treat 50 children with MDR-TB. Finally, the Global TB Program is working on ways to monitor and prevent children from acquiring MDR-TB.

Epidemiology & Infection

In December 2019, the first confirmed case of pneumonia caused by a novel coronavirus was reported. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is currently spreading around the world. The relationships among the pandemic and its associated travel restrictions, social distancing measures, contact tracing, mask-wearing habits and medical consultation efficiency have not yet been extensively assessed. Based on the epidemic data reported by the Health Commission of Wenzhou, we analysed the developmental characteristics of the epidemic and modified the Susceptible-Exposed-Infectious-Removed (SEIR) model in three discrete ways. (1) According to the implemented preventive measures, the epidemic was divided into three stages: initial, outbreak and controlled. (2) We added many factors, such as health protections, travel restrictions and social distancing, close-contact tracing and the time from symptom onset to hospitalisation (TSOH), to the model. (3) Exposed and infected people were subdivided into isolated and free-moving populations. For the parameter estimation of the model, the average TSOH and daily cured cases, deaths and imported cases can be obtained through individual data from epidemiological investigations. The changes in daily contacts are simulated using the intracity travel intensity (ICTI) from the Baidu Migration Big Data platform. The optimal values of the remaining parameters are calculated by the grid search method. With this model, we calculated the sensitivity of the control measures with regard to the prevention of the spread of the epidemic by simulating the number of infected people in various hypothetical situations. Simultaneously, through a simulation of a second epidemic, the challenges from the rebound of the epidemic were analysed, and prevention and control recommendations were made. The results show that the modified SEIR model can effectively simulate the spread of COVID-19 in Wenzhou. The policy of the lockdown of Wuhan, the launch of the first-level Public Health Emergency Preparedness measures on 23 January 2020 and the implementation of resident travel control measures on 31 January 2020 were crucial to COVID-19 control.

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