Cough, fever and night sweat: learn how to identify signs of tuberculosis

Despite being an old disease, the tuberculosis remains an important public health problem. In the world, each year, about 10 million people get sick, and more than a million die as a result of the disease. In Brazil, approximately 70,000 new cases are reported and approximately 4,500 deaths occur as a result of tuberculosis.

Tuberculosis can appear in any organ or system of the human body, such as the brain, kidneys, bones and skin. The disease, characterized by airborne transmission, has the pulmonary manifestation as the most common form, which is transmissible from one person to another.

The extrapulmonary form, which affects organs other than the lung, occurs more often in people living with HIV, especially those with compromised immune systems.

The bacterium that causes tuberculosis, Mycobacterium tuberculosisalso known as Koch’s bacillus, can remain in the environment for a long time, especially in the context of houses with poor ventilation.

Airy environments with the incidence of direct natural light reduce the risks of transmission. The respiratory etiquette, which became known as a Covid-19 prevention measure, can also be incorporated in the case of cough caused by tuberculosis. Covering your mouth with your forearm or disposable scarf when coughing is also one of the preventive measures.

signs of illness

Early identification of the signs and symptoms of tuberculosis allows for a quick start of treatment and interruption of the chain of transmission, as explained by the director of the Department of HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, Viral Hepatitis and Sexually Transmitted Infections of the Ministry of Health, Draurio Barreira.

“People often do not know about tuberculosis, they imagine that it is a disease from the past, that no longer exists. It is very common to hear this. So people think of pneumonia, flu or even Covid, that is, any respiratory manifestation, but they don’t think of tuberculosis. It never hurts to repeat that for a prolonged cough, with three weeks or more, one should think about tuberculosis”, says Barreira, in a statement.

In this sense, those who live close to the sick person and breathe in the bacteria can also get sick. It is calculated that, during a year, in a community, a person with active pulmonary tuberculosis, without treatment, and who is eliminating aerosols with bacilli, can infect, on average, 10 to 15 people.

Therefore, it is essential to be aware of the symptoms. The most common manifestations that deserve attention are:

• Cough, dry or with phlegm, for three weeks or more;
• evening fever;
• night sweat;
• slimming.

The Ministry of Health clarifies that tuberculosis is not transmitted by shared objects. The bacilli that are deposited on clothes, sheets, glasses and cutlery are difficult to disperse in aerosols and, therefore, do not play an important role in the transmission of the disease.

In addition, with the beginning of treatment, transmission tends to gradually decrease. In general, after 15 days, the risk of disease transmission is greatly reduced.

Diagnosis

The diagnosis of tuberculosis is performed with chest radiography, in addition to laboratory tests and patient sputum (bacilloscopy). The treatment, which can last six months or a year, is based on antibiotics.

Treatment should be started as soon as possible after a positive test result. The disease is curable when the treatment is carried out properly and until the end – the duration is six months, at least.

One of the difficulties in combating tuberculosis is the lack of adherence to treatment – ​​because it is long and presents quick results, some patients abandon it – which ends up causing the development of a drug-resistant form of the disease, known as multidrug-resistant tuberculosis.

(With information from the Fiocruz News Agency and the Ministry of Health)