Tuberculosis is often associated with a disappeared disease, the only memory of which is written in the history books. But no ! The proof, a case was detected in mid-December in Pas-de-Calais in a nursery school, relates West France according to an AFP dispatch.
The Regional Health Agency (ARS) and the Tuberculosis Control Center (CLAT) were alerted and a protocol put in place. All the children at the school will be screened on January 28. Parents were nevertheless invited to have their child screened with a doctor if he presented signs such as a cough with sputum, fever, breathing difficulties, headaches or chest pain.
Long incubation period
The incubation period for tuberculosis is long: it can extend up to three months. It is for this reason that collective screening is planned so late compared to the first case. It damages the lungs by hollowing out cavities but can also affect other parts of the body (kidneys, nervous system, bones …) we then speak of extrapulmonary tuberculosis.
If tuberculosis is contagious, it can only be transmitted by a patient who has declared it and is expressing the symptoms. The mode of transmission is via saliva (kissing, spitting, sneezing). It can now be avoided thanks to a vaccine: BCG, and it is cured by antibiotics.
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