For active tuberculosis, you must take antibiotics for at least six to nine months. The exact drugs and length of treatment depend on your age, overall health, possible drug resistance and where the infection is in your body. Most common TB drugs If you have latent tuberculosis, you might need to take only one or two types of TB drugs.
Full Answer
How is tuberculosis (TB) diagnosed in the elderly?
Diagnosis is often made on suspicion, and a probabilistic TB treatment may be started before microbiological confirmation is obtained. Diagnostic difficulties in the elderly are common in many diseases, not solely TB.
When is a culture done to confirm the diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB)?
Therefore, a culture is done on all initial samples to confirm the diagnosis. (However, a positive culture is not always necessary to begin or continue treatment for TB.) A positive culture for M. tuberculosis confirms the diagnosis of TB disease. Culture examinations should be completed on all specimens, regardless of AFB smear results.
What is the treatment for tuberculosis in elderly and senile patients?
Drug treatment of tuberculosis in elderly and senile patients. Treatment of elderly tuberculosis requires adherence to conventional approaches to chemotherapy for tuberculosis. However, most patients fail to fully complete the entire course of standard chemotherapy, and at individual stages of treatment, individualized regimens of therapy,...
What is a complete medical evaluation for tuberculosis (TB)?
A complete medical evaluation for TB includes the following: 1 Medical History. 2 Physical Examination. 3 Test for TB Infection. 4 Chest Radiograph. 5 Diagnostic Microbiology. 6 ... (more items)
What is the total time of treatment for tuberculosis multidrug therapy?
RIPE regimens for treating TB disease have an intensive phase of 2 months, followed by a continuation phase of either 4 or 7 months (total of 6 to 9 months for treatment).
For which individuals is prophylactic Antitubercular therapy appropriate?
Prophylactic antitubercular therapy is suggested for individuals who have been in close contact with persons with TB.
When do you teach a patient about isoniazid and rifampin?
Take isoniazid and rifampin on an empty stomach, at least 1 hour before or 2 hours after a meal. Isoniazid and rifampin may cause temporary discoloration of your teeth, sweat, urine, saliva, and tears (a yellow, orange, red, or brown color). This side effect is usually not harmful.
What does flagyl treat?
Metronidazole is an antibiotic that is used to treat a wide variety of infections. It works by stopping the growth of certain bacteria and parasites. This antibiotic treats only certain bacterial and parasitic infections. It will not work for viral infections (such as common cold, flu).
How do you manage tuberculosis?
If you have an active TB disease you will probably be treated with a combination of antibacterial medications for a period of six to 12 months. The most common treatment for active TB is isoniazid INH in combination with three other drugs—rifampin, pyrazinamide and ethambutol.
Which among the following is used in the treatment of tuberculosis?
The most common medications used to treat tuberculosis include: Isoniazid. Rifampin (Rifadin, Rimactane) Ethambutol (Myambutol)
How does rifampin treat tuberculosis?
Rifampin is a common medicine used to treat LTBI. It kills the sleeping TB germs before they make you sick. It can take many months for the medicine to kill the TB germs because they are strong. Take your Rifampin as often and as long as your doctor or nurse tells you.
How does isoniazid treat TB?
Isoniazid is used with other medications to treat active tuberculosis (TB) infections. It is also used alone to prevent active TB infections in people who may be infected with the bacteria (people with positive TB skin test). Isoniazid is an antibiotic and works by stopping the growth of bacteria.
Why is isoniazid and rifampin given together?
Isoniazid and rifampin are antibiotics that fight bacteria. Isoniazid and rifampin is a combination medicine used to treat tuberculosis (TB). Isoniazid and rifampin may also be used for purposes not listed in this medication guide.
What is azithromycin used for?
Azithromycin is used to treat certain bacterial infections, such as bronchitis; pneumonia; sexually transmitted diseases (STD); and infections of the ears, lungs, sinuses, skin, throat, and reproductive organs.
What does doxycycline and Flagyl treat?
Flagyl, Flagyl ER, and Flagyl Injection (metronidazole) and Adoxa (doxycycline) are antibiotics used to treat a variety of bacterial infections. Flagyl is also used to treat protozoal infections. Adoxa is also used to treat blemishes, bumps, and acne-like lesions caused by rosacea.
What is doxycycline used for?
Doxycycline is used to treat bacterial infections in many different parts of the body. It is also used to treat pimples and abscesses (usually on the face) that are caused by rosacea, also known as acne rosacea or adult acne.
What test is used to test for tuberculosis?
The most commonly used diagnostic tool for tuberculosis is a skin test, though blood tests are becoming more commonplace. A small amount of a substance called tuberculin is injected just ...
What is the test for TB?
Sputum tests. If your chest X-ray shows signs of tuberculosis, your doctor might take samples of your sputum — the mucus that comes up when you cough. The samples are tested for TB bacteria. Sputum samples can also be used to test for drug-resistant strains of TB.
How long do you have to take antibiotics for tuberculosis?
For active tuberculosis, you must take antibiotics for at least six to nine months. The exact drugs and length of treatment depend on your age, overall health, possible drug resistance and where the infection is in your body.
Can a TB test be wrong?
Results can be wrong. The TB skin test isn't perfect. Sometimes, it suggests that people have TB when they don't. It can also indicate that people don't have TB when they do. You can have a false-positive result if you've been vaccinated recently with the bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine.
What is the best test for TB?
3. Test for TB Infection. The Mantoux tuberculin skin test (TST) or the TB blood test can be used to test for M. tuberculosis infection.
What is TB in the body?
TB is a disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. TB disease should be suspected in persons who have the following symptoms: If TB disease is in the lungs (pulmonary), symptoms may include: If TB disease is in other parts of the body (extrapulmonary), symptoms will depend on the area affected.
What are the symptoms of TB?
TB is a disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. TB disease should be suspected in persons who have the following symptoms: 1 Unexplained weight loss 2 Loss of appetite 3 Night sweats 4 Fever 5 Fatigue
How long does it take for a lab to report positive results?
Laboratories should report positive results on smears and cultures within 24 hours by telephone or fax to the primary health care provider and to the state or local TB control program, as required by law. 6. Drug Resistance. For all patients, the initial M. tuberculosis isolate should be tested for drug resistance.
What factors should be considered when assessing TB?
1. Medical History. Clinicians should ask about the patient’s history of TB exposure, infection, or disease. It is also important to consider demographic factors (e.g., country of origin, age, ethnic or racial group, occupation) that may increase the patient’s risk for exposure to TB or to drug-resistant TB.
How long does it take for a blood test to show TB?
The test is read within 48 to 72 hours by a trained health care worker, who looks for a reaction (induration) on the arm. The TB blood test measures the patient’s immune system reaction to M. tuberculosis. 4.
When should drug susceptibility patterns be repeated?
Drug susceptibility patterns should be repeated for patients who do not respond adequately to treatment or who have positive culture results despite 3 months of therapy. Susceptibility results from laboratories should be promptly reported to the primary health care provider and the state or local TB control program.
What are the symptoms of senile tuberculosis?
Stary tuberculosis is characterized by the following triad of symptoms: cough with phlegm, shortness of breath, circulatory function. Significantly less frequent hemoptysis and pain in the chest. Not every single sign, nor their totality, makes it possible to diagnose tuberculosis with confidence.
Why is tuberculosis masked on X-rays?
So, due to aging of bronchopulmonary and bone structures, their densification , the X-ray picture of tuberculosis in the elderly is masked by deformed and excess pulmonary pattern, emphysema, sharply contrasting walls of bronchi, vessels, bone fragments.
What is the exogenous path of secondary tuberculosis development in the elderly?
Less common is the exogenous path of secondary tuberculosis development in the elderly, associated with a new (repeated) infection of mycobacterium tuberculosis with massive repeated superinfection.
How long does tuberculosis last?
Old tuberculosis usually begins in young or middle age, lasts for years , and sometimes because of the torpid current it is diagnosed only in old age. Such patients are observed for a long time by specialists of the general medical network, where they are diagnosed with various other diseases, most often chronic nonspecific respiratory diseases. Old tuberculosis can also form due to treatment defects. The main clinical forms for old tuberculosis are: fibro-cavernous, cirrhotic, less often - pleural empyema, described in detail in Chapter 18 "Respiratory Tuberculosis."
What are the risk factors for tuberculosis in elderly people?
In elderly people, the risk factors for developing tuberculosis should be considered as a combination of conditions that reduce immunity: severe chronic diseases, stressful situations. the effect of radiation, long-term use of medications with immunosuppressive action.
Why are tubercle cavities less contrasting?
Due to severe emphysema, tubercle cavities become less contrasting. The features of the old tuberculosis include the following symptoms: patients with long-term tuberculosis, as a rule, are asthenicized; on the side of the lesion, chest lag in breathing is noted;
What is the average age of the elderly?
In accordance with the modern classification of age groups, the elderly are considered to be 65 to 75 years of age, the elderly from 75 to 85; people older than 85 years are called long-livers. In developed countries, tuberculosis is observed mainly among the elderly.