Prevention, diagnosis and treatment of infiltrative pulmonary tuberculosis

Infiltrative pulmonary tuberculosis is a type of pulmonary tuberculosis and also a relatively serious lung disease. If active and effective treatment measures are not taken, it may even threaten the patient's life. Infiltrative pulmonary tuberculosis can be prevented through vaccination, isolation, etc., and the main treatment method is drug therapy. Below, we will introduce the prevention, diagnosis and treatment methods of infiltrative pulmonary tuberculosis.

1. Prevention

1. Newborns should be given an injection of BCG on their arms after birth to prevent severe tuberculosis. In the past, there were many cases of tuberculous meningitis and miliary tuberculosis in children, and the mortality rate was very high. Since newborns have been vaccinated with this vaccine, there are fewer cases of tuberculosis, and even if they do get it, there are no serious cases.

2. Preventive isolation. When in contact with patients with pulmonary tuberculosis, especially those whose sputum contains tuberculosis bacteria, you should wear a mask for prevention. Since it is transmitted through the air, you should prevent the spread of droplets. It is best for family members to sleep in separate rooms. If conditions do not allow, they can sleep in separate beds or at separate locations. After one month of treatment, the patient's contagiousness was greatly reduced.

3. Do not drink cow's milk or goat's milk raw. Boil them before drinking. Many dairy cows suffer from tuberculosis, and drinking raw milk can easily lead to tuberculosis of the digestive tract. All the fresh milk sold on the market has been pasteurized, so you can rest assured.

2. Diagnosis

There are personal reasons for getting tuberculosis, such as moving from remote mountainous areas to big cities, where people usually have little resistance and are suddenly exposed to polluted air; some migrant workers have poor nutrition, some often play mahjong online and stay up all night, and some often drink alcohol to provide calories without protein intake, all of which will cause low immunity and make them easy to get sick.

Diabetic patients are particularly susceptible to tuberculosis, so they must first control their blood sugar to normal.

Some patients need to take hormones for a long time because of other diseases, some patients need immunosuppressants to prevent rejection after organ transplantation, some patients need radiotherapy and chemotherapy for tumors, and some patients are AIDS patients. All these reasons can reduce the body's resistance and make them more susceptible to tuberculosis.

There are also external reasons, such as close contact with patients, patients' families, and improper protection of medical staff.

Because if the lung disease is not close to the bronchi, the patient may not have symptoms such as coughing and coughing up blood. If it is not close to the pleura, there will be no chest pain or pleural effusion. So sometimes the lung lesions are very obvious but the patient still doesn’t feel it.

Pulmonary tuberculosis is generally divided into several types: Type I primary syndrome (mainly hilar lymph node tuberculosis), Type II miliary tuberculosis (tuberculosis bacteria reach the small blood vessels in the lungs through the blood circulation), and tuberculous pleurisy (pleural effusion). Most people have "infiltrative tuberculosis", which is like pneumonia, with either cavities or necrosis. Many people think that I have stage IV pulmonary tuberculosis, which is in the late stage. This is not the case. It is just a medical classification.

Treatment

There is a unified plan for the treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis across the country, mainly including: isoniazid, rifampicin, ethambutol, pyrazinamide, streptomycin, PAS, amikacin, rifapentine, etc. Generally, the first four drugs are used for treatment for 2 months, and then the first three drugs are used for another 4 to 7 months. In some cases, the total treatment course is one year. If the patient is drug-resistant, the treatment plan must be based on the patient's condition.

Treatment drugs often cause liver damage, so liver function should be checked regularly and drugs to protect the liver should be taken at the same time.

The principles of treatment are: early, regular, and sufficient course of treatment. The most taboo thing is: taking medicine for a while and then stopping for a while. After 3 months of treatment, you think you are cured and stop taking the medicine on your own. This will cause a relapse and you will have to undergo re-treatment, which will be very troublesome.