My first hand experience with Tuberculosis is when my 86-year-old grandmother was diagnosed with it. She was hospitalized for almost a month. We thought we almost lost her. Side effects of the anti-TB drugs were creating havoc on her already frail body. First three months were the testing time for all of us. But being the 'Iron lady' she is, she fought back and defeated the dreaded disease. She was under medication for almost a year. I know three more people personally being diagnosed and treated in the last two years, friends and family alike.
I can remember our lecturers' referring this disease as Kocks during practicals in college. There was a special wing for those patients.
Tuberculosis is a disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. This bacteria usually attack lungs, but they can destruct other parts of body too. Tuberculosis spread through air when a person with tuberculosis sneezes, coughs, or talks. A person is more likely to get this if he/she has a weak immune system.
Symptoms of pulmonary tuberculosis are weight loss, loss of appetite, weakness or fatigue, a cough that lasts more than three weeks, night sweats, fever, and coughing up blood or mucus. Blood tests, skin tests, x-rays, and other tests can confirm the presence of TB.
With proper care and consistent treatment, tuberculosis patients can be cured. It takes minimum 6 months to a year. Side effects of medications are unbearable, but only for a few days. The DOTS strategy (Directly Observed Treatment, Short-course) is implemented under the Revised National Tuberculosis Programme in India is a comprehensive package for tuberculosis control. If you come across any of two or more above mentioned symptoms in your near and dear ones, please seek medical advice. I wish and hope we could eradicate this dreaded disease completely in the future.
PS: Is BCG vaccination effective is a nagging question in my mind right now. "It is not" said by an eminent doctor in our last trip.
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