How to check if tuberculosis is infectious

If you suspect that you are infected with tuberculosis, you can judge it by clinical symptoms, imaging tests, laboratory tests, etc. If tuberculosis is diagnosed, you need to go to the hospital in time for targeted treatment under the guidance of a doctor.

1. Clinical symptoms

1. Fever: The patient will have a low-grade fever in the afternoon, and will also be accompanied by symptoms such as fatigue and night sweats;

2. Cough and sputum: due to the irritation of the respiratory mucosa by pathogens, it can cause severe cough and sputum production, and will be accompanied by bloody sputum;

3. Hemoptysis: When there is an inflammatory reaction in the lungs, it will lead to the rupture of local blood vessels and bleeding, which will lead to the phenomenon of hemoptysis.

2. Imaging examination

A chest x-ray can reveal patchy opacities or fibrous stripes in the lungs, while a CT scan can provide a clearer picture of the lesion. Bronchoscopy can also be done, which can directly see the specific conditions in the bronchi and help confirm the diagnosis.

3. Laboratory examinations

It mainly includes tuberculin test and acid-fast stained smear examination, of which the tuberculin test is determined according to the redness, swelling and induration of the injection site after the tuberculin protein is injected into the human body, and the positive test usually indicates that it may have been infected by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. On the other hand, an acid-fast stained smear tests the patient's blood or secretions, and if you can see bacteria that are positive for acid-fast staining under the microscope, you may have tuberculosis.

4. Miscellaneous

In addition, methods such as γ-interferon release test and T-cell spot test can also be used to help determine whether tuberculosis is present. It is recommended that patients go to the respiratory medicine department of a regular hospital to complete the above relevant examinations to identify the specific cause and actively cooperate with the doctor for targeted treatment.