Tuberculosis in the elderly

Pulmonary tuberculosis (tuberculosis of lung) is a chronic infectious disease of the lungs caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis invading the body under certain conditions. Patients with bacterial discharge are the main source of infection in society. Since the discovery of Mycobacterium tuberculosis by Robert Koch in 1882, modern medicine has invented medical X-ray technology and the development of anti-tuberculosis chemotherapy technologies such as streptomycin and isoniazid, which has formed relatively complete and mature prevention and treatment measures to make the TB epidemic The medical and clinical conditions have changed significantly. In the 1950s, the incidence of tuberculosis in China dropped significantly, but the incidence of tuberculosis rose again in the last 10 years of the 20th century. With the aging of the population, the elderly tuberculosis has a relatively rising trend. Due to the atypical clinical symptoms, high misdiagnosis rate and poor curative effect of elderly tuberculosis, if the treatment is not appropriate, the disease progresses rapidly and the prognosis is poor. Family tuberculosis is the main source of infection. Therefore, the prevention and treatment of elderly tuberculosis is not only for the health of the elderly, but also to eliminate or reduce the source of infection, which is of great significance for the prevention and treatment of tuberculosis.