Lagatar24 Desk
Ranchi, March 24: Every year on March 24, World Tuberculosis Day 2022 is commemorated. It focuses on raising awareness about the disease’s seriousness and the steps that need be taken to stop it from spreading.
Tuberculosis, usually known as TB, is a lung infection caused by the Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria. This bacterium is spread through the air by infected droplets, which are subsequently inhaled by a human, causing infection.
Long-term coughing is one of the most prevalent symptoms of tuberculosis, which can last for up to 2-3 weeks. In times of pandemic, it’s even more critical to pay attention to other TB symptoms that can be separated from Covid. To begin with, unlike Covid’s dry cough, tuberculosis is accompanied with the formation of sputum, which is a mixture of saliva and mucus from the throat or lungs.
The bacteria Mycobacterium Tuberculosis spreads through the air when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or laughs, causing tuberculosis.
The symptoms of tuberculosis in the lungs include:
* A bad cough that lasts 3 weeks or longer 
* Chest pain
* Coughing up blood or sputum
* No appetite
* Weakness or fatigue
* Weight loss
* Fever
* Sweating at night
According to WHO each day, over 4100 people lose their lives to TB and close to 28,000 people fall ill with this preventable and curable disease.Global efforts to eradicate tuberculosis have saved an estimated 66 million lives since 2000. However, the COVID-19 pandemic halted years of progress in the fight against tuberculosis, with tuberculosis fatalities rising for the first time in over a decade in 2020.
Prevention:
* BCG vaccine that shows excellent protection
* Use masks and a respirator near a TB patient
* Respiratory hygiene should be maintained when in contact with people.
* Treating latent infection before it becomes active in selected cases.
* Maintaining good nutrition
