Tuberculosis of the intestine is dangerous and contagious?

This is an automatically translated article.

The article is professionally consulted by Master, Doctor Vu Van Quan - Gastroenterologist - Department of General Surgery & Anesthesiology - Vinmec Hai Phong International General Hospital

1. Intestinal tuberculosis

Intestinal tuberculosis is a tuberculosis disease located in the human digestive system, often easily confused with some other digestive diseases. Intestinal tuberculosis is common in patients between the ages of 30 and 55 years old, often accompanied by other TB lesions such as pulmonary tuberculosis.
Intestinal tuberculosis can be primary or secondary due to infection with TB bacteria from other organs in the body. For primary intestinal tuberculosis, the cause was found to be caused by bovine tuberculosis bacteria infecting the body through food mediated by cow's milk, which is very rare in clinical practice. In contrast, secondary intestinal tuberculosis is more common and is caused by the patient's contact or ingestion of sputum containing the pathogenic TB bacteria.
Secondary intestinal TB can be acquired after a patient has pulmonary, esophageal, peritoneal, or oropharyngeal TB. TB bacteria enter the intestine through the gastrointestinal tract, colonize the intestine and then continue to other structures such as blood or bile. Intestinal tuberculosis bacteria can be human tuberculosis bacteria, animal tuberculosis bacteria such as buffaloes, cows or pigs. Tuberculosis bacteria can enter the small intestine and ileum because they are likely to be unaffected by the gastric juices due to the protective fatty coating, in addition, TB bacteria can also invade some organs. other digestive system such as jejunum and duodenum thanks to this feature. If there is an excess of lymphatic tissue and there are few digestive bacteria as well as stagnation in the ileum, favorable conditions for the formation of ileocecal tuberculosis are created.

In addition, tuberculosis bacteria from the blood to the intestines and cause diseases, such as millet tuberculosis, are also the cause of intestinal tuberculosis. Another remarkable point is that when TB bacilli are in the dormant stage, they can completely be activated to cause disease if the patient's immune system is weakened and is not resistant to this bacteria.
The most common clinical symptoms for intestinal tuberculosis include:
Systemic symptoms: Fever, unexplained weight loss, body weakness, or night sweats Nausea Abdominal pain , can be localized or pain throughout the abdomen, especially the right iliac fossa. There may be abdominal cramps, abdominal cramps... Diarrhea for a long time Passing may have blood in the stool Constipation Risk factors that increase the likelihood of intestinal tuberculosis include:
Disease people with weakened immune systems, such as those with HIV/AIDS. Body thin, weak People who are using corticosteroids or drugs that treat autoimmune diseases, immunosuppressive drugs... Patients with a history of previous tuberculosis Persons who directly care for the patient TB infection People living in a polluted environment are susceptible to silicosis. People suffering from diseases such as diabetes, head and neck cancer, diphtheria, Hodgkin's disease ...

2. Is intestinal tuberculosis contagious?

Intestinal TB is a disease that does not spread through eating or breathing, but if the patient has both intestinal TB and pulmonary TB, then pulmonary TB can spread through the respiratory tract. In addition, contact with the feces or urine of a patient does not cause the spread of intestinal TB.
Although intestinal tuberculosis itself, that is, if there is no additional tuberculosis in other organs, it will not be able to spread to people around, but in clinical practice there are many cases of intestinal tuberculosis often co-occurrence with other organ tuberculosis, the possibility of TB bacteria being transmitted to people in contact with the patient is entirely possible. Therefore, during the treatment of intestinal tuberculosis, patients should be careful in daily activities, such as coughing or sputum to avoid spreading to relatives and people around. If after treatment, the patient is tested and the results show that he is no longer infected with intestinal tuberculosis, he can return to normal activities.

3. Is intestinal tuberculosis dangerous?

Intestinal tuberculosis is a social disease with the ability to spread, so it is very dangerous if it is not detected and treated properly. However, in clinical practice, there are many cases of intestinal tuberculosis that are detected and treated from the early stages, with persistence and strict adherence to a treatment regimen consisting of two phases: attack, maintenance and If you don't quit on your own, the disease can be completely cured. One of the most dangerous problems for intestinal tuberculosis is the intestinal obstruction complication that it causes, it is necessary to monitor and promptly detect intestinal obstruction situations for immediate surgery for the patient, otherwise it may affect the patient's life. patient's life. Other complications caused by intestinal tuberculosis that also require timely surgical intervention include: peritoneal perforation, peritonitis ...

Regarding diet, patients with intestinal tuberculosis should not eat foods that are too solid and cause constipation because they can adversely affect the digestive system. Patients should maintain a diet that includes foods in liquid form, soft, with good digestibility and increase green vegetables in the daily menu to increase the ability to laxative.
Intestinal tuberculosis is a dangerous tuberculosis infection that can spread to society and can leave serious dangerous complications for patients. Therefore, when there are signs of suspected intestinal tuberculosis, the patient should immediately go to a medical facility for examination, diagnosis and treatment according to the regimen.
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