How to Distinguish a Tuberculosis Cough from Covid-19? page all

KOMPAS.com – Disease tuberculosis (TB) in Indonesia ranks third in the world, after India and China.

Indonesia accounts for 824,000 new cases and 93,000 deaths per year, equivalent to 11 deaths per hour.

TB disease is caused by bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis. This disease most often attacks the lungs, but there are other organs of the body that can also be affected by tuberculosis, such as the spine, lymph nodes, skin, kidneys, and the lining of the brain.

Also read: Tuberculosis: Symptoms, Prevention and Treatment

Lung Specialist Dr. Erlina Burhan, Sp.P (K) said, for patients diagnosed with TB disease, they must carry out treatment therapy until completion.

“Treatment (TB patients) must be completed,” said Erlina in a webinar held by the Indonesian Lung Doctors Association (PDPI), Wednesday (23/3/2022).

Erlina explained, there are several symptoms to watch out for as tuberculosis, with the most reported symptoms being: cough in the long term.

In addition, symptoms of TB infection include shortness of breath, coughing up blood, fever for a long period of time, weakness, weight loss, night sweats, and decreased appetite.

In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, the majority of patients with infections from the corona virus also reported coughing symptoms. This makes a cough from a Covid-19 infection and tuberculosis a little vague to tell the difference.

So, how to distinguish TB cough with Covid-19?

According to Erlina, a cough caused by tuberculosis is different from a cough from a Covid-19 infection.

He explained that coughs due to TB infection are usually phlegm, while coughs that arise from Covid-19 infection are dry coughs.

“Differentiate it from Covid-19, dry cough Covid-19, cough TB ​​phlegm,” he said.

Erlina stressed that normal or healthy people will not have a cough, so if a person coughs continuously, it can lead to a disease.

“If you have a persistent cough there should be a disease, generally people normally don’t cough,” he said.

If the cough disappears, he continued, repeated for more than two weeks, then it is possible to be exposed to TB.

“Ask for other symptoms such as drowning, decreased appetite, weight loss,” said Erlina.

Also read: Ministry of Health Says Tuberculosis in Indonesia is in the Top 3 Most Cases in the World

Risk factors

According to him, there are several risk factors that can increase a person’s chances of getting TB, one of which is the environment.

A person living in a dense environment without good ventilation, increases the risk of TB infection, especially if there are family members who are exposed to the disease.

“Houses are close together, there is no ventilation, the windows are not opened, maybe even the house has no windows. If at home like that, there is a TB patient who coughs up germs, so he can get infected and not necessarily get sick right away,” he explained.

As additional information, transmission of tuberculosis generally occurs through the air. When an active TB patient splashes mucus or phlegm when coughing or sneezing, the TB bacteria will come out through the mucus and be carried into the air.

Also read: Tuberculosis Response in Indonesia is Worse During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Furthermore, TB bacteria will enter other people’s bodies through the air they breathe.

In addition, risk factors that can increase exposure to TB are comorbid or comorbid diseases that attack a person’s immune system such as HIV, diabetes, and autoimmune.

It should be noted that a person infected with TB may not develop symptoms immediately or develop the disease for a long time.

“If the immune system is weak, a few germs can enter into a disease. (But there are cases of) TB germs don’t get sick right away, there is an incubation period of more than two weeks, even years,” he concluded.

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