What are the differences between tuberculosis and colds

Tuberculosis and colds have many similar symptoms, for example, they both easily cause fever, cough, and sputum. When patients have a long-term low-grade fever, persistent cough, and poor response to medication, they must go to the hospital for examination in time. It may be caused by tuberculosis, especially long-term low-grade fever and blood in the sputum, which should be a cause of concern.

Similar symptoms

There are still many differences between colds and tuberculosis. The pathogenesis of the common cold is acute upper respiratory tract infection, which has a high incidence rate. Almost every one of us is likely to catch a cold throughout the year. The onset is acute and the course of the disease is generally short, about a week. Accompanied by upper respiratory tract symptoms (such as dry, sore, itchy throat, nasal congestion, sneezing, runny nose, etc.) and cough; systemic symptoms include: fever, headache, and mild chills. If you only have a cough and do not have the above symptoms, it is recommended to go to the hospital for a chest X-ray as soon as possible.

The pathogenesis of tuberculosis is a chronic infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which can invade many organs, among which pulmonary tuberculosis infection is the most common.

In addition to coughing, tuberculosis is often accompanied by the following symptoms:

1. Low fever: Generally manifested as low fever in the afternoon, the body temperature will mostly rise between 4 and 8 pm, usually between 37 and 38 degrees Celsius. At this time, the patient often suffers from night sweats, general fatigue or weight loss, and women may suffer from amenorrhea or irregular menstruation.

2. Blood clots or blood streaks appear in sputum: The sputum coughed up contains small blood clots or blood streaks. Most of the blood in sputum is caused by tuberculosis.

The above are the basic symptoms of pulmonary tuberculosis. What we need to know is that no matter which stage of pulmonary tuberculosis, patients should actively seek treatment.

The following are the specific stages of tuberculosis:

① Progressive stage: Newly discovered active tuberculosis will grow larger as the number of lesions in the patient's body increases, and symptoms of cavitation or enlarged cavities will appear. Sputum bacteria examination will turn positive, and clinical symptoms such as fever will worsen.

② Improvement period: As the patient's lesions are absorbed better, the cavities gradually shrink or disappear, the sputum bacteria test turns negative, and the clinical symptoms will improve.

③Stable period: The cavities will disappear, the lesions will become stable, and the sputum bacteria will continue to turn negative (once a month) for more than 6 months; or the cavities still exist, and the sputum bacteria will continue to turn negative for more than 1 year.

The above is the difference between tuberculosis cough and cold, as well as an introduction to the basic symptoms of tuberculosis. Once you understand the symptoms of tuberculosis, if you still have symptoms of tuberculosis, especially coughing and sputum, and blood in the sputum for more than two weeks, you should immediately go to your local tuberculosis prevention and control agency for diagnosis as soon as possible, regular treatment, and recovery as soon as possible.