Tuberculosis

From person to person
Tuberculosis is usually transmitted from person to person: in the case of open pulmonary tuberculosis, patients excrete the pathogens mainly when coughing, sneezing and speaking. The finest droplet nuclei containing the pathogen are released into the air and can then be inhaled by other people. Tuberculosis that affects organs outside the respiratory tract, such as bones, joints or lymph nodes, is usually not contagious.

Via food
Transmission via food such as raw milk is largely ruled out in Central Europe, as bovine tuberculosis is largely contained in this country.

Symptoms? Infestation of the lungs (most common case)
The disease usually begins with non-specific symptoms such as tiredness and fatigue. Fever, loss of appetite with unintentional weight loss and night sweats may also occur. Typical symptoms also include a prolonged cough, occasionally with bloody sputum and pain when breathing.

Infestation of other organs
If the bacteria spread through the body via the lymphatic or bloodstream, other organs can also be affected, for example lymph nodes, pleura, kidneys or urinary tract. Bones, joints, spine, digestive tract or the central nervous system are less frequently affected. Miliary tuberculosis and meningitis (very rare)

The infection can usually be detected 6 to 8 weeks after transmission. However, this does not mean that you are ill, but only that your immune system is dealing with the pathogen. Only around 5 to 10% of adolescents and adults fall ill after infection. In young children and people with pronounced immune deficiencies, the figure is around 20 to 40%.

There are three possibilities after an infection with tuberculosis pathogens:

1. In the majority of cases, the disease does not break out because the body's own defences contain the pathogens or render them harmless. There is no risk of infection.
2. The pathogens initially remain dormant in the body. If the immune defence decreases or is weakened, the disease may only break out years or even decades later. In infected children, the disease breaks out more frequently and often in the first year after infection. Infected children often have no typical symptoms. In small children, the age-appropriate development process and weight gain are often lacking. The risk of infection is reduced in children, as coughing/coughing up is often reduced or absent.
3. Patients with open pulmonary tuberculosis are infectious as long as they excrete pathogens capable of reproduction with their cough and these are detectable in the sputum. If effective medication is taken, patients are usually no longer infectious after 2 to 3 weeks.

• In the case of tuberculosis, the regulations of the Infection Protection Act apply.
• Patients who excrete tuberculosis pathogens with their sputum are isolated as long as they are infectious.
• Tuberculosis is treated with a combination of drugs that are only effective together and must be taken reliably over several months.

• Cough that lasts longer than three weeks should be assessed by a doctor
• Strictly observe the recommended hygiene measures of the treating institution
• Preventive treatment is recommended if contact with a sick person is proven to be infected