With initial tuberculosis, the cough is constant or periodic. Other symptoms of tuberculosis. Cough and stages of tuberculosis

What kind of cough with tuberculosis on early stage? What other signs of the disease are there? Tuberculosis is on the list of the most serious infectious diseases. As a rule, it primarily affects the respiratory system. The first signs are not always manifesting in nature, it begins with subtle symptoms that the patient may not pay attention to, and the disease, meanwhile, will destroy his body from the inside.

What are the first signs of tuberculosis?

Signs of tuberculosis in the early stages in women may resemble the symptoms of female diseases, accompanied by a headache, muscle pain, vomiting, and sometimes diarrhea and chills.

The manifestation of tuberculosis can also be similar to the symptoms of respiratory viral infections or flu, for example:

• chills;
• fever, sometimes to high numbers;
• muscle and joint pain;
• dry cough;
• weakness;
• sweating;
• dyspnea;
• tachycardia.

Early detection of tuberculosis is complicated by the fact that patients who are already sick do not yet feel sick, as symptoms may be mild.

Symptoms may be limited to the following:

• loss of appetite;
• general malaise;
• weight loss;
• temperature increase in the evening to subfebrile values;
• constant fatigue;
• occasional mild non-productive cough.

In order to distinguish the cough characteristic of bronchitis or acute respiratory infections from the cough that occurs with tuberculosis, it should be noted that a certain, usually initial, stage of the disease with tuberculosis may contain only a slight periodic, but obsessive cough, and then, with the intensification of the disease, a dry and persistent cough without sputum waste. With bronchitis, it can be more intense, but less prolonged.

Characteristic features of cough in tuberculosis

The nature of the cough in the tuberculous process may depend both on the size of the tuberculous focus itself and on its location in the lungs:

1. At the onset of the disease, patients may notice only occasional intermittent coughing.
2. If specific inflammatory process is localized centrally in relation to the large bronchi, then a symptom such as a cough will appear earlier.
3. If a primary foci tuberculosis are located subpleurally, then such a patient will begin to cough much later from the onset of the disease.
4. Also, the larger the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe lung affected by Koch's wand, the sooner the patient begins to cough.
5. With an infiltrative or disseminated form of pulmonary tuberculosis, the cough is more pronounced than with a focal form or tuberculous pleurisy.
6. Also, a dry and paroxysmal cough can occur with tuberculosis of the intrathoracic lymph nodes, if any bronchus is squeezed by them.
7. In tuberculous pleurisy, the cough may be caused by a shift of the mediastinum in the direction opposite to the pleurisy.

Also, cough with tuberculosis, especially at the beginning of the disease, can begin against the background of concomitant chronic diseases, such as Chronical bronchitis, bronchial asthma or bronchiectasis.

In such cases, sputum production initially with a cough may be associated with concomitant bronchitis.

And only at the stage of decay lung tissue the amount of sputum when coughing increases significantly.

Causes and dynamics

Since mycobacteria, entering the human body, usually immediately turns out to be captured by the cells of the immune system, which are called macrophages, it depends on how much a person who has got a tubercle bacillus, powerful immunity, will depend on whether he develops tuberculosis or whether his macrophages can defeat the bacterium.

If the tubercle bacillus overcomes the resistance of the immune system, then it will begin to multiply and destroy the body. In the process of life, the tubercle bacillus releases many poisons that affect the human body and cause specific and nonspecific manifestations of the disease.

In the process of destruction of the lung tissue under the influence of tuberculosis toxins, along with the destruction products of the lung tissue, Koch's bacillus is also released with sputum, so the appearance of sputum is usually accompanied by bacillus excretion.

At the beginning of the development of the disease, the cough is dry, rather strong. It worsens in the morning and evening. It should also be noted that once started, cough with tuberculosis does not go away without treatment.

He accompanies the patient throughout the illness. Tuberculosis is characterized by increased coughing early in the morning when a person wakes up and gets out of bed.

This is due to the fact that at night the sensitivity of the ciliated epithelium of the respiratory tract decreases, on which mucus accumulates. Therefore, morning cough with tuberculosis can last for hours.

If the disease develops aggressively, then shortly after the onset of cough, accompanied by sputum, hemoptysis may join, which is a very unfavorable sign of the course of the disease.

How is tuberculosis defined? To confirm the diagnosis, it is necessary to repeatedly examine the sputum to detect tuberculosis bacillus. In addition, tests are used to confirm the diagnosis of tuberculosis: tuberculin and diaskintest, fluorography and radiography of the lungs, if necessary, and CT scan and a number of analyses. In the blood test, the erythrocyte sedimentation rate increases, neutropenia and lymphocytosis are observed. Sputum examination using polymerase chain reaction, at which the DNA of the microbe is isolated and recognized. The quantiferon test is a blood test that determines the level of interferon gamma, which is an immune response to the presence of tubercle bacillus in the body.

Tuberculosis - infection with an inflammatory course in the lungs, damage to the bronchial tree with Koch's stick. As inflammation develops, pathological changes are subject to cell structures bronchi, as it develops, it collapses and the respiratory system as a whole begins to malfunction.

Tuberculin bacillus transmission route: airborne. Infection can occur through contact with infected person when talking, sneezing, coughing. Many patients are wondering what kind of cough with tuberculosis? After all, it is important to identify the disease on initial stage while the chances of recovery and a favorable prognosis are much greater.

What is the cough with tuberculosis?

Cough with tuberculosis does not appear immediately. At the first stage, at an early stage, it is practically absent. By nature it happens:

• dry, paroxysmal, causes: swollen lymph nodes, compression of the bronchial tree, outpouring of pathological fluid into the lumen of the bronchi or pleural cavity;
• enhanced, productive against the background of the progression of the disease, the addition of nonspecific bronchitis, severe destruction of the lungs.

Cough begins to clog the bronchi, bother with seizures when congested pathogenic bacteria leading to irritation of the respiratory receptors.

The symptoms and urge to cough can be quite prolonged until the accumulated mucus is completely expelled. As you accumulate serous fluid paroxysmal cough may occur with a duration of 3-10 minutes, especially in the morning when taking a horizontal position after sleep. Mucus stagnates overnight, in the morning it spills over the bronchial cavity again, leading to disruption of normal breathing, the urge to wet expectoration due to the body's quick reaction to the situation.

Appearance of cough after sleep, taking vertical position — clear sign disease development. During the night, mucus accumulates in the pleural cavity, splashes out in the morning, causing a prolonged cough (up to several hours), until the lungs are completely cleared.

Children often have a dry cough with tuberculosis. It can be compared with a metallic sound at the moments of oxygen entering the respiratory organs. In case of damage to the larynx, the glottis begins to close incompletely. There is a feeling of congestion, a coma in the throat. Cough becomes hoarse, muffled.

Can there be tuberculosis without a cough?

When answering the question: is there tuberculosis without a cough, it is worth saying that it can at the initial stage. The latent form of the disease often leads to the fact that the patient learns about his diagnosis too late, when the infection of the lungs is already at the stage of complications.

The main cases when tuberculosis can occur without coughing, temperature:

• weakness immune system;
• closed, chronic form diseases with slow progression;
• the development of a focus of inflammation outside the lungs: in the liver, brain, bones, intestines, genitals.

The danger of extrapulmonary tuberculosis is the spread of infection to the brain, the development of meningitis with a fatal outcome. In particular, cough is absent at the initial stage of development of 2 forms of tuberculosis: focal and tuberculoma. In addition, the disease is clinically similar to the common cold, flu, especially in children. Parents should be vigilant if the child coughs for too long.

Symptom - dry, hysterical, convulsive, paroxysmal cough, accompanied by shortness of breath, similar in sound to a metallic rattle in the morning (night) hours.

Cough is absent at the initial stage of the development of the disease. This makes it difficult to recognize. Tuberculosis should not be confused with colds, in which children begin to cough almost immediately.

Symptoms of cough in tuberculosis

Tuberculosis has a relapsing course. The inflammatory process then escalates, then slowly subsides. As intoxication fills the lungs and pleura, the infection begins to show many signs, symptoms in adults, along with cough and fever:

• fever with an increase in temperature up to 37 degrees;
• a sharp weight loss, up to 20 kg in 2 months;
• increased sweating at night;
• fast fatiguability;
• weakness;
• irritability.

Not always the inflammatory course in the lungs is accompanied by a cough. Doctors have noted cases when the pathology begins development immediately from the acute stage. A destructive form with a disseminated course or miliary pulmonary tuberculosis is diagnosed.

At the initial stage distinctive features pathologies: a short cough, a quick transition from dry to wet, fever (37, 37.5 g) at night.

Additional Features:

• slight discomfort in the chest with increased inhalation, at the moments of contraction, reduction of lung tissue in volume;
• squeezing pain with intensification on inspiration;
• enlarged lymph nodes under the armpits, collarbone;
• dry unobtrusive cough at night, quickly turning into a wet one;
• discharge of blood particles;
• weakness;
• decreased concentration;
• lacrimation;
• photophobia;
• eye conjunctivitis;
• pallor of the skin;
• the appearance of an unnatural blush on the cheeks, glitter in the eyes;
• apathy;
• dizziness;
• wheezing of varying intensity;
• tachycardia;
• feeling short of breath.

As the disease progresses, the tuberculous cough begins to recede, accompanied by sputum from pus and mucus. The coughing patient tries to cough periodically. Clusters exit the lungs at first colorless. Then they change in color, begin to depart with blood particles. thinning vascular walls leads to hemorrhage.

Characteristics

With tuberculosis, a cough appears - dry, obsessive, not intractable for 3-4 weeks. Increases at night, clogs the lungs, leads to insomnia, disorders of the nervous system.

Features of cough depend on the form of the course of the disease:

1. Miliary form, cough - hysterical, strong with discharge of white thick sputum;
2. Focal form, cough - and rare weak, when it is difficult to recognize the pathology;
3. Destructive form, cough - muffled, paroxysmal, accompanied by pain in the larynx, but no wheezing;
4. Tumor-like form with the appearance of convulsive cough, discharge of a metallic echo from the larynx;
5. Laryngeal form with the appearance of a silent cough, hoarse voice in case of insufficient covering of the glottis;
6. Infiltrative form - weak, occasional cough with a gradual change to paroxysmal with discharge of a viscous secretion in small volumes, hemoptysis.

A metallic echo occurs in the destructive form of tuberculosis, when there is a collapse of the lungs, filling with cavities.

Hemoptysis

Hemoptysis is a sign of the development of an infiltrative form of tuberculosis. Sputum with blood particles is observed. it dangerous phenomenon, since there is a high probability of developing bleeding in the lungs.

Tuberculosis is a disease in disguise. Symptoms can be confused with other diseases: lung cancer, heart failure. The danger is hemoptysis in tuberculosis with the appearance of a paroxysmal cough, sputum flying out of the mouth with particles of fresh blood. Development pulmonary hemorrhage is a common cause of death.

When similar signs you need to urgently contact a pulmonologist (phthisiatrician), undergo a complete examination. Pass sputum for analysis and x-rays, for children - a Mantoux test. It is no longer possible to ignore hemoptysis.

Cough treatment

The goal of therapy is to achieve relief of paroxysmal cough, suspension of development inflammatory course. With tuberculosis, such a concept is applicable as to drown out the disease, to achieve a stable remission. Unfortunately, the chronic form of the disease is incurable. In a number advanced cases doctors resort to an operation to remove the affected lung (partially, completely).

Treatment is long, 2-6 months. Patients are required to strictly comply with all prescriptions, instructions of the attending physician. If not fully treated, symptoms may new force flare up again in 6-8 months. On the early stage patients are prescribed symptomatic therapy- anti-tuberculosis drugs in course doses, duration during the intensive phase - 2 months. If the state of health improves, then a transfer to maintenance therapy with the appointment of drugs (Isoniazid, Rifampicin) is possible.

It is important to prevent the resistance of Koch's bacillus to the medications taken, so it can be difficult to treat tuberculosis. This is what makes it difficult to develop a treatment program when antibiotics become powerless. Doctors prescribe drugs in high doses. It is important for patients to comply with doses, not to skip taking medications, not to interrupt treatment for 0.6 years.

Sometimes doctors have to select therapy with inclusion for simultaneous reception 6-7 names of medicines at once. The treatment is comparable to chemotherapy, when immunity is quickly suppressed and complex impact on the pathogenic microflora in the lungs. Additionally, patients are advised to:

• physiotherapy;
• breathing exercises;
• special diet.

Cough - defensive reflex, is able to clear the respiratory tract from foreign accumulations of mucus. Sputum in nature with tuberculosis is different. Much depends on the provoking factors of its appearance. So cough at bronchial asthma- paroxysmal, unproductive, dry. With inflammation of the lungs - moist with copious discharge of sputum, pus. A cough in a tuberculosis patient without provoking factors has some features: coughing up with the release of clean sputum or, in the case of advanced tuberculosis, with the addition of blood particles.

Tuberculosis is contagious, the symptoms are significantly reducing the quality of life. At the slightest suspicion of an inflammatory-infectious course in the lungs, it is necessary to consult a doctor and undergo an examination.

Cough lasting more than one week and accompanied by fever. Perhaps these are signs of tuberculosis? No need to delay. After all, it may not just be ARI.

What is pulmonary tuberculosis?

Tuberculosis is a disease caused by mycobacteria that spread in tissues saturated with blood and oxygen. For this reason, the lungs are most affected. Of course, the disease can develop in other organs. The treatment is successful, but it requires a course of six months to a year, and in some cases it can drag on for years (it all depends on what kind of cough with pulmonary tuberculosis). Previously, this disease was considered the most common. But with the advent of antibiotics, coughing with tuberculosis has become less common. Today, the disease is gaining momentum as the emergence of different strains of TB has led to antibiotic resistance. There is a disease in such forms as open and closed. In the first form, the bacterium, which is suppressed by the immune system in the body, does not pose any threat to the surrounding people. However, this form can become open if the person is not properly treated. In the second form, the patient has the ability to infect others. The most common form of infection is to inhale the air exhaled by the infected person.

Who is at risk of getting TB?

People at greatest risk:

• with weak immunity (infants, HIV-infected);
• people who have close contact with an infected person (living in the same room);
• those who care for TB patients (doctors and nurses);
• people who are addicted to nicotine (especially those who smoke more than one pack of cigarettes a day);
• those who live on the streets;
• persons who use alcohol and drugs;
• people whose weight is 10% less than normal;
• persons who use medications from depression;
• people who are in prison.

Causes of cough in tuberculosis

The body has the ability to fight any bacteria that enter it. However, with any stress or weakening, the body malfunctions and creates fertile ground for the development of diseases.

The most common method of penetration into the body is airborne. But infection does not occur immediately - the bacterium meets resistance respiratory system. The development of the stick occurs with inflammation of the upper respiratory tract and bronchi.

The most common causes of the disease: unfavorable social position, contact with an infected person, wrong image life, stress poor nutrition and weak immunity. But main reason can be called a weak social base and the impossibility of a full-fledged treatment.

Symptoms of cough in tuberculosis

First of all, you need to listen to your body and pay attention to any changes so as not to miss the initial stage of the disease. This is extremely important, because at first the disease may not manifest itself and be diagnosed after an x-ray of the lungs.

The following symptoms are the first signs of the disease:

• constant dizziness;
• apathy and lethargy;
• sleep disturbance;
• heavy sweating;
• severe pallor of the body;
• the appearance of a bright blush;
• rapid weight loss;
• lack of appetite;
• body temperature is 37 0 С.

In later stages, the disease manifests itself more clearly:

• has tuberculosis coughing- both dry and with phlegm;
• tachycardia, in which there is a severe lack of air;
• wheezing of varying intensity;
• heat body;
• and pallor of the skin;
• vegetovascular dystonia;
• rapid weight loss up to ten kilograms or more;
• the appearance of blood during expectoration;
• occurrence of chest pain.

Stages of tuberculosis

There are three stages of pulmonary tuberculosis:

1. Infection. It occurs only in the area where the infection enters. Usually the infected person feels well, only occasionally primary signs illness.
2. Latent infections. Provided that the human immunity is very weak, the bacteria will quickly spread throughout the body. In this way, they will form places for the accumulation of tuberculosis bacteria on various organs.
3. Disease progression. The accumulation of mycobacteria affects the lungs, when they enter the bronchi, these microbes make a person a spreader of infection.

Forms of tuberculosis

There are many forms of the disease. It depends on the form of treatment and how dangerous the disease is.

The first form is infiltrative. It is caused by inflammation in the lungs of a person. As a result, lung tissue becomes like cottage cheese. In some cases, this form is asymptomatic and manifests itself only with x-rays. There is frequent expectoration of blood, although the general state of health is not bad. Often the disease is confused with pneumonia, bronchitis and influenza.

The second form is called disseminated. And it is caused by the fact that bacteria spread through the blood and lymphatic system. Symptoms are clear and vary from person to person.

The third form is cavernous, it is characterized by the appearance of a thin cavity on the lung tissue. This form is not very pronounced. It is treated with the help of medications, physiotherapy and immunostimulating drugs.

The fourth form is called fibrous. When it affects the bronchi and appear emphysema, bronchiectasis and pneumosclerosis.

The fifth form is called focal and is secondary. Both one lung and both are affected. A person has a cough with tuberculosis and a high temperature, and other symptoms.

Is there tuberculosis without coughing?

Only at the beginning of the disease can develop without coughing. During this period, the patient may not feel the process of intoxication occurring in his body. But over time there is a cough.

At closed form cough does not occur with tuberculosis.

If a person is ill with tuberculosis of such organs as bones, joints, skin, eyes, brain, kidneys, intestines and genitals, then cough does not occur.

What is the cough for tuberculosis?

Cough occurs as the disease progresses. It happens: dry (or it is also called unproductive) and wet (productive).

If a dry cough is found:

• tuberculosis in initial stage;
• there was pressure on the lymph nodes, which increased;
• there is ;
• parallel occurrence of chronic bronchitis.

It is also possible due to the ingress of fluid (pus or other) from the pleura into the bronchi.

Cough with has the following reasons:

• rapid development of the disease;
• a form of the disease that leads to the destruction of the lungs;
• accompanying chronic nonspecific bronchitis.

Expectoration in this disease occurs as a homogeneous mass without color and odor. If tuberculosis goes in parallel with another disease of the respiratory system, then the sputum will be green, purulent and with a sharp bad smell.

Other symptoms of tuberculosis

Cough with tuberculosis is characterized by expectoration with blood, which is a feature of some types of pulmonary tuberculosis. At first, the patient expectorates ordinary red blood, later it turns into clots. Temperature does not occur. However, if the blood enters the lungs, then in 90% of cases their inflammation occurs, which proceeds with a high body temperature.

Bleeding in the lungs is characterized by the appearance of bright red blood, the volume of which will be more than 50 ml per day (meaning what comes out through the respiratory system). When expectorating blood, no more than 50 ml per day is secreted. Bleeding in the lungs is dangerous because hemorrhagic shock may occur.

There is a cough with tuberculosis and shortness of breath when exhaling, this occurs due to a decrease in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe lung tissue, bronchial patency and a deterioration in the functioning of that part of the brain that is responsible for breathing.

There is a squeezing pain that becomes stronger with the slightest movement.

There is an increase in lymph nodes.

Cough in children

Cough with tuberculosis in children has the following features:

• strong dry;
• progresses to a greater extent at night and in the morning and lasts more than one month;
• with the development of the disease, it becomes wet with the release of purulent and bloody masses;
• cough is accompanied by weakness, distracted attention, decreased efficiency.

With the right choice drug treatment he disappears.

Parents need to be able to distinguish cough in pulmonary tuberculosis from acute respiratory viral infection in children, since it also has a cough, but it has its own characteristics:

• appears from the onset of the disease;
• passes in two to five days;
• dynamic, that is short span time goes from dry to wet;
• characterized elevated temperature and all catarrhal symptoms;
• facilitate the state of drinking plenty of water and taking antiviral drugs.

The most popular ways to diagnose tuberculosis

The most popular diagnostic methods are x-ray methods, Mantoux test, diaskintest and quantiferon test.

X-ray methods are divided into:

• X-ray - transillumination. it cheap method, in which the specialist examines the organ on the screen at the moment when it is illuminated by the device.
• Radiography. Is over exact method and draws attention to the details of any harmful process in the lungs.
• Tomography. It is used to clarify the nature of the disease. The tomography consists of several images.
• Fluorography. This method is common, since it is used to prevent tuberculosis, it is necessary to undergo an examination once a year.

The Mantoux test consists in introducing into the human body special remedy- tuberculin. Three days later, the specialist evaluates the reaction of the body. This diagnosis is carried out every year for children from one year old to eighteen years old. The advantage is price, simplicity and the ability to test a large number of human.

Many factors can affect the development of the reaction, then the test result will be inaccurate:

• when the child has suffered a certain infection, allergy, combed the injection site;
• violation of the technique of conducting, poor quality of the drug;
• a false reaction occurs when there are microbes in the body that are similar to the causative agents of tuberculosis.

Diaskintest is used to exclude false positive reaction Mantu. Most often it is used in cases where parents are against Mantoux. However, it gives false results if the disease is in the initial stage.

The quantiferon test is the most modern technique diagnostics, since it detects both active and latent forms of the disease. The advantage of this method is that it is carried out in laboratory conditions, no impact external factors. It also excludes false reactions and is used regardless of the diseases of the child.

Cough treatment for tuberculosis

If you treat cough (tuberculosis), then you should remember that all medications are taken exactly on time, skipping a dose is strictly excluded. If the regimen is not observed, then a form of cough may occur that will be resistant to medicines. It is possible to destroy Koch's wand only with the simultaneous use of five or six drugs.

But in order to cure the patient, one should not rely only on medicines. The therapy is carried out in combination with physiotherapy and taking drugs that strengthen the immune system. Shouldn't be overlooked breathing exercises and proper nutrition.

Coughing is a protective reflex act designed to clear the airways of foreign bodies, accumulated mucus or sputum. Depending on the cause that caused it, it may vary.

So, with bronchial asthma, it is dry, unproductive and paroxysmal, with inflammation of the lungs, it is accompanied by the release of abundant purulent sputum. And what kind of cough with pulmonary tuberculosis? In our review and video in this article, we will try to highlight the features of the symptom that you should pay attention to.

Tuberculosis is an infectious disease caused by pathogenic microorganisms– Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MBT, Koch sticks). Most often it is accompanied by damage to the lungs and is accompanied by the appearance of foci in them. specific inflammation.

Note! According to WHO, about 2 billion people in the world are infected with Koch's sticks. Only in Russia from this dangerous disease 25,000 people die every year.

The infection is transmitted from a sick person to a healthy person mainly by airborne droplets. Of particular danger are patients with an open form of tuberculosis, who, without observing anti-epidemiological protection measures, can annually infect up to 10-20 healthy people.

Reproduction of mycobacteria and development of a specific productive inflammation in the lungs leads to progressive destruction and sclerosis of tissues, as well as the formation of mucopurulent exudate. If the disease is not treated, it leads to the appearance of foci of destruction (necrosis), the formation of persistent respiratory failure and lethal outcome.

Characteristics of cough during MBT infection

To answer the question of what kind of cough is in tuberculosis, one should dwell in more detail on the clinical and morphological forms of the disease. Depending on the type of inflammation, this symptom can manifest itself in different ways.

Table: Cough with various forms tuberculosis:

Note! A special "metallic" sound of cough in destructive forms of tuberculosis occurs due to the resonance of the cavity - the decay cavity.

Regardless of the form of pathology, cough during MBT infection has one curious feature: it intensifies in the morning. Usually, severe coughing attacks begin to overcome the patient immediately after waking up and can last up to 30-60 minutes.

This is due to the fact that during a long stay of the patient in horizontal position mucus accumulates in bronchial tree, and after abrupt change position of the body begins to actively stand out with each coughing shock. The attack will not stop until all the mucus has been removed from the lungs.

Standard instruction requires the health worker to be alert for any cough that lasts 2 weeks or more. Be sure to contact the clinic if this unpleasant symptom not only does not go away, but also intensifies: the doctor will draw up a complete examination plan that allows you to exclude tuberculosis or diagnose the disease at an early stage.

Atypical course of tuberculosis

Can tuberculosis exist without coughing?

Unfortunately, the asymptomatic course of the initial stage of the disease is not uncommon. Often a person learns about lung damage by accident during preventive examination or encounters manifestations of infection already during the development serious complications.

In addition, tuberculosis without cough and fever often develops in people with reduced immunity, as well as in extrapulmonary forms of pathology (for example, with the development of foci of specific inflammation in the bones, liver, brain). It is said to be a slowly progressive course. chronic pathology: inflammation is activated, then again fades.

Note! Patients with extrapulmonary forms tuberculosis does not pose an epidemiological danger.

Can tuberculosis occur without coughing if the lungs are affected? Yes, if the disease is just beginning to develop. Thus, the formation of a primary tuberculosis complex, focal tuberculosis or tuberculoma has practically no clinical manifestations.

Features of cough in tuberculosis in children

Particular attention should be paid to coughing in childhood. Although babies often get ARVI with a lesion lower divisions respiratory system, prolonged and persistent cough should alert both parents and the attending physician of the crumbs. And what is the cough in children with tuberculosis?

Tuberculosis in a child is usually accompanied by the appearance of a dry, hysterical cough. With the development of specific bronchoadenitis, it acquires convulsive character and sounds like a metallic rattle. An increase in large bronchial nodes is accompanied by breathing problems: in a baby (often at night or morning time) there is shortness of breath and an attack of severe coughing.

But it also happens that specific infection has no clinical manifestations in young patients. Why is there no cough in tuberculosis in children? At the initial stage, the disease, as in adults, can be asymptomatic or mimic the usual flu or cold.

Important. In 50% of children who were diagnosed with tuberculosis, specific manifestations of the disease were absent or were so insignificant that they did not attract the attention of their parents.

Additional symptoms to watch out for

In addition to coughing for tuberculosis, a number of additional symptoms may indicate:

• pallor of the skin and mucous membranes;
• weight loss, haggard appearance;
• unnatural blush on the cheeks;
• "unhealthy" glitter in the eyes;
• long-term (for a month or more) remaining subfebrile condition - temperature at the level of 37-37.5 ° C;
• discomfort in the chest, aggravated by taking a deep breath.

Tuberculosis is a specific infectious process that causes multiple pathological changes in the body and lead to serious complications. Unfortunately, at the initial stages, when the treatment is as simple and effective as possible, the disease has practically no clinical manifestations.

In order to diagnose it on time and protect yourself from health problems, it is important to regularly undergo preventive examinations (fluorography, tuberculin diagnostics) and visit your doctor.

What is the cough for tuberculosis? Let's take a closer look in this article. A cough that lasts more than seven days and is accompanied by an increase in body temperature is the first symptom of this terrible pathology.

What is tuberculosis?

Tuberculosis is a lung disease caused by mycobacteria that spread in the tissues respiratory organs person. Wherein greatest degree they cause damage to the lungs, but this disease can develop in other organs of the human body. Tuberculosis is treated very successfully today, but recovery is still very long. Sometimes it drags on even for several years, which depends on the nature of the cough and on how affected the lungs of the patient with tuberculosis are.

AT modern world many different strains of bacteria are known, causing tuberculosis, and not all of them are treated with antibiotics, because they have developed a stable adaptability to them.

Not everyone knows the signs of pulmonary tuberculosis, but these are:

• elevated temperature;
• bouts of dry cough;
• sharpening of facial features;
• pain in the hypochondrium;
• hemoptysis.

Forms of the disease

This disease can occur in open and closed forms. The first of them does not pose any danger to others, since the bacteria that caused this disease are suppressed by the body's immune system. But this form of the disease can become open if appropriate measures are not taken to treat this disease. This condition is very dangerous both for the sick person and for the surrounding people, since the method of spreading the disease in this case is airborne.

What is the cough for tuberculosis? This is a common question.

At-risk groups

Most at risk of developing tuberculosis:

• people with weakened immune systems;
• children;
• HIV-infected;
• medical staff working in tuberculosis control facilities;
• persons who have close contact with patients (carers);
• people suffering from nicotine addiction;
• vagabonds;
• people suffering from alcoholism and drug addiction;
• prisoners;
• persons with extremely low body weight, as well as those who take medications to help fight depression.

What kind of cough with tuberculosis is described below.

Causes of cough in tuberculosis

The properties of the human body involve the fight against any pathogenic microbes that fall into it. However, in some cases, such a struggle turns out to be useless, since the immune system is greatly weakened and is not able to suppress the attack of such bacteria. At first, the body fights, so the symptoms of the disease may not immediately manifest themselves, but when the development of the tubercle bacillus reaches certain limits, inflammation of the tissues of the respiratory tract occurs, which is the cause of cough - the main symptom of pulmonary tuberculosis.

The occurrence of cough in tuberculosis

In order for a person to have the opportunity to identify the disease at the initial stage, he must be attentive to any manifestations of coughing. During the incubation period this disease it may be weak, which makes it possible to confuse it with the usual smoker's cough. And at this time, it is impossible to diagnose the disease in any other way than to take an x-ray of the lungs, since this is the only study that can establish the presence of the disease. Another symptom may be an increase in temperature, both regular and single.

What is the cough for tuberculosis?

A person who has this disease may experience rare urge to cough, but they are more like an allergy or signs of acute respiratory infections. This may be the most common mild cough, which usually occurs with a common cold or flu.

In the first stage of the disease, the cough is persistent, so people, as a rule, try to be treated on their own and go to the doctor for more later dates illness.

With the development of the growth process of tubercle bacillus in the respiratory tract of a person, the cough becomes deeper, and the patient begins to experience difficulty in breathing. Many describe it as a sensation of a lump in the space of the sternum, which does not go away even after a decrease in coughing activity. Treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis should be immediate and comprehensive.

Causes of cough in pulmonary tuberculosis

The main reason for coughing when this disease occurs is that a large amount of mucus is produced in the lumen of the inflamed bronchi, which is a reaction to damage to the lung tissues. This secret prevents the free passage of air, giving rise to the urge to cough, which occurs through the response of the brain to carbon dioxide entering it, which is a product of disturbed gas exchange in human body. Thus, a cough begins - a kind of protective reflex of the respiratory system, which is not able to function normally.

As a rule, with tuberculosis, a dry cough, and sometimes wet.

Varieties of cough in tuberculosis

A prolonged cough during the course of the disease is explained by the fact that a constant inflammatory process occurs in the bronchi and their branches, which provokes the production of sputum. Sputum accumulates in large quantities, however, her coughing occurs in different ways. Thus, the natural ventilation of the lungs is disturbed, and the disease progresses.

The patient begins to cough more and more often, it becomes more difficult for him to breathe, and purulent processes begin to develop in the lungs.

The cough of a patient with tuberculosis can be of a different nature:

• dry cough, which is not accompanied by sputum and is characterized in that cough urges become unbearable for the patient and greatly complicate the respiratory process;
• wet, that is, that which is accompanied by excretion from upper divisions respiratory tract sputum, but it is released in small quantities, such a cough is often called "unproductive";
• the mixed nature of the cough in tuberculosis, when sputum is produced in the process, but its output occurs from time to time.

Sputum examination

One of the mandatory examinations that a person with tuberculosis must undergo is an analysis of the secret secreted when coughing. Specialists of the laboratory that studies this biomaterial determine the composition of sputum, the amount of purulent discharge, blood, as well as the content of mycobacteria that cause this disease. During late stages tuberculosis, sputum may have the color of blood, since active coughing activity contributes to the gradual destruction of the capillaries of the lungs.

Treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis also depends on the stage of the disease.

stages

This disease goes through four stages, which differ from each other in the way of diagnosis, the danger to other people, and also negative consequences for the patient's body. All stages are curable, but the difference between recovery methods is that each subsequent one is much more difficult to treat.

The first stage of pulmonary tuberculosis

This disease at the initial stage is characterized by the fact that in the lungs there is a single area of ​​​​damage by mycobacteria. This means that the patient is initially infected. At this stage, the cough is mild, but it may not be observed at all. The body fights such a focus very actively, as if isolating it from the surrounding lung tissues with special antibodies.

This form of tuberculosis is closed, does not pose a danger to the environment and is detected, as a rule, on scheduled the patient for a fluorographic study. Sometimes it is enough to take a course of immunostimulants to defeat bacteria.

Second stage

This stage of the disease is characterized latent form when the patient is a carrier of bacteria without infecting other people. The danger of this degree of tuberculosis lies in the fact that in the case of sharp decline immune protection In such a person, tuberculosis bacteria begin to multiply actively and attack not only the lungs, but also neighboring organs. There are cases when this stage disease development of these bacteria periodically increases or decreases.

The symptomatology of this stage of tuberculosis is a very low level of immune protection. Cough during this period is rare, and if it is, then these symptoms are so mild that patients often do not pay attention to them.

The main task of the patient is to increase immunity and take antibacterial agents, you can even use folk remedies, for example, healing tincture with aloe badger fat and garlic, but only on prescription.

Third stage

The development of the third degree of tuberculosis is characterized by multiple lesions not only of the human lungs, but also of neighboring organs, which also causes recurrent manifestations. various symptoms this disease. It is impossible to say unequivocally whether this is dangerous in terms of infecting other people, since this factor depends on each specific case.

This stage can take place both in open and in closed form. In the case when the lesions find an exit into the patient's bronchi, then develops open form, and with the exhaled air, bacteria enter the surrounding space. Symptoms of this stage of tuberculosis - cough with sputum, which has a purulent content and bloody streaks. The task of the doctor is to isolate the patient and prescribe a course of treatment according to the results of his tests.

Fourth stage

This stage is called disseminated tuberculosis, when tissue death develops in the lungs due to purulent inflammation(sepsis). The infection begins to actively enter the blood stream, which contributes to its spread throughout the body. To a similar extent, this disease is so contagious that the patient must be isolated from external contacts. This stage of the disease is detected by any of the methods for diagnosing tuberculosis, and the symptoms of the disease are hemoptysis, high body temperature, the development of meningitis, and much more. The fourth stage of tuberculosis is extremely dangerous for the patient's life.

A course is prescribed for treatment pharmacological preparations, which can be supplemented folk remedies such as taking garlic juice every 3-4 hours.