Will you not get tuberculosis if you get the BCG vaccine? Don't be misled by these rumors

"White plague", "Nine out of ten tuberculosis patients die"... When it comes to tuberculosis, many people are terrified. As a chronic infectious disease that seriously endangers people's health, tuberculosis still has many misunderstandings in people's understanding. There are also many rumors such as "Infants and young children will not get tuberculosis after BCG vaccination", "You can reduce or stop taking the medicine by yourself after the symptoms disappear", "You will get tuberculosis if you come into contact with a tuberculosis patient", etc., which make it difficult to distinguish the truth from the false.

Today is World Tuberculosis Day . On this occasion, let us clarify the four major rumors about tuberculosis and scientifically understand and prevent tuberculosis.

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What is tuberculosis? What are the symptoms?

Tuberculosis is a chronic wasting disease caused by the invasion of Mycobacterium tuberculosis into the human body. Many organs and systems of the human body can be infected with tuberculosis, among which pulmonary tuberculosis is the most common.

Pulmonary tuberculosis is a respiratory disease that can be transmitted through coughing, sneezing, talking loudly, spitting, etc. Healthy people may be infected and become ill after inhaling tuberculosis bacteria.

The main symptoms of pulmonary tuberculosis are chronic cough and sputum with blood in it. It may also be accompanied by other systemic symptoms such as chest pain, night sweats, low-grade fever in the afternoon, general fatigue, and loss of appetite.

01

Rumor: If you come into contact with a tuberculosis patient, you will definitely get tuberculosis

The truth: Tuberculosis bacteria are mainly transmitted through the respiratory tract via droplets, so patients with pulmonary tuberculosis who excrete bacteria are contagious to a certain extent.

Even if you have come into contact with patients with pulmonary tuberculosis and tuberculosis bacteria, you may not necessarily develop tuberculosis. This is because whether you are infected with pulmonary tuberculosis is mainly related to the amount of tuberculosis bacteria you have come into contact with, their virulence, and the strength of your own immunity. If the tuberculosis bacteria you have come into contact with are highly virulent and in large quantities, and your own immunity is low, you are likely to be infected. Otherwise, you may not necessarily develop the disease. In addition, extrapulmonary tuberculosis (such as bone tuberculosis and lymph node tuberculosis) is not contagious, and you will not get tuberculosis even if you have come into contact with such patients.

If you have close contact with a group of patients with infectious pulmonary tuberculosis, there is no need to panic. See a doctor promptly and take preventive medication or observe according to the doctor's instructions.

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02

Rumor: Infants and young children who are vaccinated with BCG will not get tuberculosis?

The truth: BCG is a live vaccine made from attenuated tuberculosis bacteria. It uses artificial methods to induce a mild, non-clinically dangerous primary infection in people who are not infected with tuberculosis, thereby inducing the immune system to produce specific immunity against tuberculosis.

Children born in regular hospitals will be vaccinated with BCG for the first time. After the human body is vaccinated with BCG, immunity can be generated in 8 to 12 weeks, but it is not lifelong immunity. The immunity period is usually 5 to 10 years. As time goes by, the protective effect of BCG will gradually weaken. Therefore, even if infants and young children are vaccinated with BCG, some children will still develop tuberculosis after being infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Although BCG vaccination cannot produce lifelong immunity, it can effectively reduce the incidence and mortality of severe tuberculosis in children, which is of great significance for the prevention and control of tuberculosis.

03

Rumor: Tuberculosis patients can reduce or stop taking medication on their own after their symptoms disappear.

The truth: After taking anti-tuberculosis drugs, tuberculosis symptoms may disappear in a short time, making people mistakenly believe that they have been cured. However, in the human body, some tuberculosis bacilli are very active, and drugs can kill the bacteria in a short time; some tuberculosis bacilli are inactive or grow inside cells, in which case it is difficult to kill the bacteria in a short time, so long-term treatment is required, and you cannot reduce or stop the medication on your own.

If you reduce or stop taking the medicine without authorization, the unkilled tuberculosis bacteria may multiply again, causing tuberculosis relapse. Recurrent tuberculosis bacteria often develop drug resistance and are very difficult to treat. Therefore, patients must follow the doctor's instructions to adhere to the full course of treatment and take the medicine regularly to minimize the recurrence of tuberculosis.

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04

Myth: Tuberculosis cannot be cured

Truth: Tuberculosis is an ancient disease, once known as the "white plague", and humans have been fighting it for thousands of years. For a long time in the past, tuberculosis was an incurable disease, and it was not an exaggeration to say that "nine out of ten tuberculosis patients die". However, with the continuous development of human medicine, as long as regular treatment is adhered to, the vast majority of tuberculosis patients can be cured.

Generally speaking, it takes 6 to 8 months to completely cure newly diagnosed infectious pulmonary tuberculosis. It should be noted that you should not miss or interrupt the medication.

How to prevent tuberculosis scientifically?

1. Get vaccinated with BCG in time. BCG can make the human body produce specific resistance, thereby reducing the risk of infection. Even if the efficacy of the drug gradually decreases in the later stage, it can reduce the probability of severe tuberculosis.

2. Avoid contact with infectious tuberculosis patients. If contact is necessary, wear a mask for self-protection.

3. If there is a tuberculosis patient at home, it is recommended to live in separate rooms. The elderly and children are at high risk of tuberculosis and should be more careful to avoid contact with patients. In addition, the room should be ventilated more often, which helps reduce the concentration of tuberculosis bacteria in the air and thus reduce the possibility of inhaling bacteria.

4. Strengthen exercise to improve your immunity. When immunity is high, it is usually not easy to be infected with germs, because the human body can resist some of the invasion of germs. But when immunity is relatively low, tuberculosis bacteria are more likely to invade the body, increasing the incidence of tuberculosis.

5. Tuberculosis patients should be more aware and develop good hygiene habits, such as not spitting, not coughing or sneezing towards others, and wearing masks when traveling, to prevent the spread of germs.

Author: Zhong Yanping

Review｜Shi Jindong, Chief Physician of the Respiratory Department, Shanghai Fifth People's Hospital

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