How to diagnose tuberculosis

Many major diseases require multi-faceted examinations before they can be diagnosed, because this is a guarantee for patients. In order to avoid using the wrong medicine, it can also reduce some psychological burden on patients. For the diagnosis of tuberculosis, it is generally necessary to conduct sputum testing on the patient to confirm the diagnosis. There will be some values ​​in the sputum test. The doctor will judge whether the patient has tuberculosis based on the comparison of these values ​​with normal values.

The main methods for diagnosing tuberculosis are as follows:

Diagnosis based on symptoms:

The main symptoms of pulmonary tuberculosis include fever, especially low-grade fever in the afternoon, as well as fatigue, weakness, and mental depression. Some people also experience night sweats, weight loss, flushed face, and irregular menstruation in women. The main manifestations of the respiratory system include cough, sputum, hemoptysis, etc. For a small number of women, irregular menstruation, amenorrhea, and infertility are the initial symptoms.

Cultivation method:

The culture method is more accurate in diagnosing pulmonary tuberculosis. In addition to understanding whether the tuberculosis bacteria have the ability to grow and reproduce, it can also be used for drug sensitivity testing and bacterial type identification. Mycobacterium tuberculosis grows slowly, and using modified Roche medium, it usually takes 4 to 8 weeks to be reported. Although culture is time-consuming, it is accurate, reliable and highly specific. It is particularly important when the smear is negative or the diagnosis is in doubt. Further drug sensitivity testing of the cultured strains can provide a reference for the treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis, especially retreatment.

Tuberculosis test:

It is the most specific method for diagnosing pulmonary tuberculosis. Finding tuberculosis bacteria in sputum is the main basis for diagnosing pulmonary tuberculosis. Smear acid-fast staining microscopy is quick and easy. Atypical mycobacteria are still rare in my country, so if the acid-fast bacilli are positive, the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis can be basically established. The positive rate of direct thick smear is better than that of thin smear and is currently widely used. Fluorescence microscopy is suitable for rapid examination of a large number of specimens. If there is no sputum or the child does not cough, tuberculosis bacteria can be found in the morning gastric washing fluid. Adults can also use bronchoscopy or search for tuberculosis bacteria in their rinsing fluid. Sputum positivity indicates that the lesion is open and contagious. If the amount of bacteria excreted is large (more than 100,000 per milliliter), direct smear is likely to be positive, which is a source of social infection. If the amount of bacteria in sputum is small (less than 10,000 per milliliter), the bacteria collection method can be used.