Tuberculosis is an infectious and serious disease which is caused due to the bacteria called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It usually affects the lung, later it ends up affecting the other body parts like kidney, brain or bones. It is commonly termed as TB. TB sucks up the body and its nutrients leaving a victim very weak and lean. Children are major sufferer and the disease is still considered dangerous across the world.
Mostly, tuberculosis spreads from child to child via droplets. When a child having tuberculosis infection coughs, sneezes, spits or even talks, tiny droplets of saliva or mucus are expelled in the air and these droplets then enter into the healthy child’s body and reach the alveoli (small sacs in our lungs). Then the bacteria are transmitted to the lymph system and bloodstream and then to the various parts of the body. The common places for them to locate are bones, intestines, kidneys, meninges and most commonly distal parts of lungs.
The vaccine called BCG gives 60-80% protection against the bacterium.
Tuberculosis fall under the contagious disease and therefore the best way to prevent is avoidance of getting exposed to it. Avoid a child being in dense area where there is crowd such as public places, fairs and other clumsy areas.
AKT – anti Koch’s therapy or treatment or ATT – anti-tuberculosis treatment. This contains four unique drugs and the course of this treatment varies from 6 months to one year.
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