Pulmonary tuberculosis is an extremely infectious and serious disease. It is commonly known as T.B. This is spread by bacteria called Mycobacterium tubercle bacillus. When afflicted with this disease, tubercles of hard tissues grow inside the lungs. These nodules are composed of millions of cells. The German scientist Robert Koch discovered the bacteria of this disease in 1882. They are rod shaped, and the size is approximately 1/7000 mm in length and 1/6000 mm in breadth.
While coughing, a T.B. patient sprays small drops of water and sputum into the air around. These contain the bacteria of this disease. In pulmonary TB there are two stages of infection. In primary infection there are no significant symptoms; only dormant small hard masses called tubercles are formed. In post-primary infection the dormant bacteria are reactivated due to weakening of the body’s defences and clinical symptoms become evident. Symptoms include fatigue, weight loss, persistent cough with green or yellow sputum and possibly blood. When the water drops and sputum dry up, the bacteria start flying in the air. If somebody inhales them, he may also get infected. A man suffering from this disease can transmit it to the people around him.
For thousands of years, there was no treatment of this disease. Anybody who caught it was sure to die. In 1944, a miracle drug called, ‘streptomycin’ was discovered for the treatment of this disease. A few years later two more medicines, para-aminosalicylic acid and isonicotinic acid hydrazide, were discovered. Nowadays this disease is effectively treated with these triple drug therapies. Though the treatment of this disease takes several months, yet the patient regains his health.
A patient of tuberculosis should not be kept at home, because he can infect his family members or neighbours. He should be immediately admitted to some T.B. sanatorium or hospital. This disease can be easily detected with X-rays. Tuberculin skin tests are also used to detect this disease. A small amount of the killed germs is injected into the skin. If the person is suffering from tuberculosis (TB), the skin around the injection mark becomes red and hard. Each year an estimated two million people in the world die from tuberculosis. Of late, due to the progress made in the field of medicine, TB is no more considered as a dreaded disease.