TUBERCULOSIS PATIENT EDUCATION

Nurse (N): As you know, you have been diagnosed with tuberculosis (TB), which is an infectious disease that one develops due to airborne mycobacteria. Do you happen to know anything about this illness?

Patient (P): Frankly, nothing at all. But airborne, you say?

N: Yes, that is it is transmitted through cough, sneeze, or talk, or spewing nasal and throat secretions into the air, and mainly affects the lungs. And it is still the first cause of death among the infectious diseases worldwide.

P: But how come that I didn’t feel anything until all appea red at once?

N: It is that latent tuberculosis is silent in most cases and never develops, as the symptoms are controlled by the immune system. However, in some cases, the disea se can become active many years later due to immunosuppression.

P: Immunosuppression?

N: It’s that the body develops a weak immune response to illnesses, and that’s why you experienced fever, night sweating, joint pain, fatigue and weight loss and you spat out blood.

P: Does that means it’s life-threatening?

N: Only in case TB is untreated, and the good thing is that in some cases it can become either a chronic disea se, that is the patient remains contaminating seve ral years later, or better, the illness heals on its own.

P: And so, now what can be done?

N: In your case, TB is still contaminating for the first two to three weeks, in spite of the treatment you are getting, which is why you are in isolation here in hospital in a dedicated room. And you are under specific antibiotics, medical surveillance and health exams until you are no more contagious and can be discharged home. Then we’ll give you some recommendations to follow so that tuberculosis won’t become resistant to antibiotics.

P: What should I do once back home?

N: Well, as medical treatment is long and rather complicated, and in order to avoid relapse and even lethal com plications, we’ll implement a holistic, that is global, approach which takes into account your physical, social, psychological, emotional or even sexual health. Therefore, first of all, and as long as you are contagious, you have to wear a mask. And you have to observe your treatment strictly and entirely as indicated, even if it seems tedious.

P: Are there any side effects to this long and heavy treatment?

N: Yes. And so, you have to inform us immediately if you experience any nausea, vomiting, itching, joint pain, jaundice, numbness in the legs and vision disorders, so that we can adapt the treatment. We’ll also regularly proceed to hepatic assessment, that is for the liver function, because of the toxicity of the drugs. Also, you should avoid alcohol intake as it adds to the toxicity of the medicine and quit smoking as it exacerbates TB. And then we’ll see you on a monthly basis to monitor the evolution of the treatment and your health condition. And in case of any question of any kind, you can call us anytime. Ok?

P: Yes. And I’ll do my best to stick to the treatment plan. Thanks a lot.