Is lumbar tuberculosis contagious? The truth is this

Lumbar tuberculosis is a common type of tuberculosis in daily life, but most people don’t know much about it and don’t know whether it is as contagious as pulmonary tuberculosis. Therefore, people don’t know whether they can get close to patients with lumbar tuberculosis. In fact, there is a big difference between lumbar tuberculosis and pulmonary tuberculosis, because lumbar tuberculosis is generally not contagious.

Among bone and joint tuberculosis, the incidence of spinal tuberculosis is very high, accounting for more than half. Tuberculosis can occur in any segment of the spine, among which the lumbar spine is a high-incidence site. This is mainly because the lumbar spine has a greater load-bearing and range of motion, and the spinal structure is easily damaged after being eroded by tuberculosis bacteria.

Most bone tuberculosis is secondary to pulmonary tuberculosis. The occurrence of pulmonary tuberculosis requires two factors: one's own resistance and the virulence of bacteria. If the human body's resistance is strong or the bacteria are relatively weak, the tuberculosis bacteria that enter the body will either be eliminated or remain dormant, entering a dormant state, and the infected person will not show any symptoms. On the contrary, if the patient's resistance is poor or the bacteria are more virulent, symptoms of tuberculosis will appear. However, many patients now do not have systemic manifestations of tuberculosis, but instead experience pain in the bones and joints. This indicates that the tuberculosis bacteria have metastasized to form bone tuberculosis. When the tuberculosis bacteria erode the lumbar spine, lumbar tuberculosis will form.

Although pulmonary tuberculosis is contagious, lumbar tuberculosis is generally not contagious. It can only be transmitted to others in two special circumstances. One is that after the cold abscess of a patient with lumbar tuberculosis ruptures, the secretions contain tuberculosis bacteria. If not properly handled, it may be transmitted to others. The other is that during the development of lumbar tuberculosis, the tuberculosis bacteria spread in the opposite direction and infect the lungs, forming pulmonary tuberculosis, which is definitely contagious at this time.

The onset of lumbar tuberculosis is usually caused by the invasion of tuberculosis bacteria into the body. If there is no pulmonary tuberculosis in the body of the patient with lumbar tuberculosis, then there is no need to worry. As for the onset of lumbar tuberculosis caused by pulmonary tuberculosis, our tuberculosis patients need to pay more attention and go to a specialized bone disease hospital for regular clinical examinations so that they can have a clear understanding of their own disease condition as early as possible.