Stages of Tuberculosis Infection and Its Consequent Screening
Often, you will come across people coughing severely. One of the potential reasons for severe coughing and shortness of breath is tuberculosis or TB. It is a potentially serious disease that affects the lungs. Tuberculosis is caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis. This disease is infectious as the bacteria travels through the air. Sometimes, the bacteria can also get transferred from one person to other. To detect whether a person is suffering from TB, doctors suggest undergoing private TB testing in the UK.
In this blog, we will discuss the stages that this disease travels through along with its potential causes, symptoms, diagnosis, and screening. However, before getting into these subtopics, it is essential to have a good idea about tuberculosis. Well, it’s right below.
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What is tuberculosis?
Also known as TB, tuberculosis, caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (the bacteria) is an infectious disease that spreads through the air. Since it is an air-borne disease, it can spread from one person to another at ease. However, according to the American Lung Association, besides the lungs, tuberculosis can affect other parts of the body as well.
Although better medical facilities for the disease and its diagnosis have emerged recently, tuberculosis dates back to the time of the early Egyptians. It can be rightly said that tuberculosis is 5000 years old. Back then, it was a deadly disease as there was no cure for it. One can find things written about tuberculosis in the biblical texts of Leviticus and Deuteronomy. Even, Hippocrates describes tuberculosis as ‘phthisis’ in his writings.
Further, during the 18th and 19th centuries, tuberculosis had taken the shape of a pandemic that killed many. Back then, people barely knew the name of this disease and referred to it as ‘consumption.’ The first medicine that was developed to treat tuberculosis was streptomycin. After its invention and promotion in the American market in the 1940s, gradually, the death rates due to tuberculosis got lowered.
Symptoms of tuberculosis
One of the unfortunate problems of tuberculosis is the majority of the people do not understand its entry and growth into the body initially. By the time the signs and symptoms start showing and worsening, the disease has already proceeded to the next level. Here are some of the signs and symptoms that act as red alerts for tuberculosis:
- Pain in the chest
- Production of mucus or coughing up blood
- Loss of appetite
- Extreme weakness or fatigue
- Fever and chills
- Night sweats
- Sudden and drastic weight loss
- Troubled breathing
- Body aches
However, the signs and symptoms of tuberculosis vary as they largely depend on the stage in which a person is belonging at present.
Stages of Tuberculosis Infection
Generally, the infection passes through these three stages as discussed below:
a. Primary TB infection
As the name suggests, this is the primary level of the disease. It is in this stage that the bacteria first enter the body. However, no symptoms are noticed externally at this stage. Some of them may feel a little feverish or may experience some pulmonary symptoms. Again, these emitting symptoms at the very first stage vary from person to person. While people with a healthy immune system will not experience any symptoms at all, the ones with a poor immune system may suffer from a few as the bacteria can gradually grow and take the shape of active disease. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention reports that most people with primary tuberculosis infection are asymptomatic.
b. Latent TB infection
This is the second stage of infection where the presence of bacteria in your body can be detected through a TB test in London. However, the bacteria that has been detected by tests is not active at the latent stage. According to the National Library of Medicine, the latent stage of tuberculosis does not allow it to get spread, nor does it produce any symptoms.
c. Active disease
At the active stage, the tuberculosis bacteria become very much active and multiply by leaps and bounds. A person experiencing the active stage of tuberculosis must be careful as it can get spread from one person to another through the air. At this stage, a person is sure to feel sick. One should get hold of immediate medical advice to avoid more contagiousness, complications, and other risks.
How is tuberculosis screening conducted?
Generally, two types of TB testing or screening are done – one is the TB skin test and the other is the TB blood test. Of the two, the TB skin tests are conducted more often. However, the most popular form of TB screening is the TB blood test. To understand which form of screening is best for you, rely on the doctor.
The TB skin test, also known as the PPD test, requires the patient to visit the office of the healthcare provider twice. These are the things that a patient will need to do on visiting the healthcare provider’s clinic for a TB test:
- Use an antiseptic solution to clean the inner arm of your body.
- Then, the doctor uses a small needle to take out a small quantity of PPD that lies underneath the first skin layer. PPD is that protein that is emanated due to tuberculosis. Since it is not live bacteria, you need not worry about PPD making you sick.
- After the doctor has injected PPD, you will notice a tiny bump formed on your forearm. However, the affected skin will subside down and normalize after a while.
Do not touch or force anything on the affected site for a while. Instead, leave it open and uncovered to get healed soon.
Coming to the second form of TB test is the TB blood test which is also known as the IGRA testing. Here, the doctor collects the blood sample by injecting a small needle into your arm and extracting blood into a vial or test tube. The process usually does not take more than five minutes.
Conclusion
Now that you have a basic knowledge about tuberculosis and its screening, it is time to look for a TB blood test near me. The tuberculosis test in London is a better choice for it is not only affordable but also produces accurate results. Therefore, before tuberculosis can do more damage to your body, take the necessary precautions.
