COUGH AND ITS RELEVANCE (This health related problem is for an awareness program especially for people of subcontinent and Africa.)
If you read any previous medical journel or interested to read like those, you might suggest that this is Tuberculosis (or TB), which is common in poor countries like India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka or other countries of subcontinent or even Africa! But the main concern of this topic is not TB?
Strange? Not at all. Cough with relative bloody sputum does not always mean TB. There might be other signs and symptoms. The main concern of this topic is an infection of the upper respiratory tract called "bronchitis" or more commonly in general-population words, upper respiratory tract infection. This disease is one of the gifts of our modern era. As pollution disturbs our daily life, so it disturbs our body.
Sign and symptoms
The main symptom is a cough which is productive in nature, meaning that there will be production of sputum with it. The coughed-up material contains mucous material which varies in color from off-white to brown. Although Frank hemoptysis (pure blood in sputum) is a feature of TB, still a patient with bronchitis may be cyanotic (blue-colored), producings wheezing sound, with a dome-shaped chest, etc. If you yourself make a differential diagnosis, then it could be bronchitis, pulmonary infarction, TB, or even Mitral stenosis (Heart valve obstruction). So, its better to consult your doctor or nearby hospital.
What to do
Always, if a cough lasts for more than a week or so, or blood appears in the sputum, consult your doctor immediately. Self medication, which is a common practice in under-developed countries, must be avoided. If a case of TB is diagnosed by a physician through lab tests, then with the passage of time the disease may become uncontrollable if professional medical treatment is not given.
Management
TB, if diagnosed, is a very dangerous, communicable disease. Although it does not spread via touch or intimate contact, respiratory droplets expelled with coughing are the main concern. If you find such a patient, immediately tell the health authorities of your region. Other people must remain away from the sputum of the patient by at least 6 feet. Sputum discharge must be regular.
Consult the DOT therapy program which was started by the United Nations and is practiced by each and every government. Always! And always follow a 9-month medication regimen for TB. Signs and symptoms relieved in perhaps only one week of therapy may make the subject feel that he/she is cured. But actually, the bacteria dormant itself remains, and if the subject stops treatment, the next generation produced by the bacteria will be more resistant to medication. So, a continuous 9-month therapy must be followed.
However, if bronchitis is diagnosed, then plenty of water is advised to the patient and with it, the antibiotics are given to patient accordingly.
Always look after your subordinates . . . .
Cheers!
