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Dangerous tuberculosis has been detected in kindergarten children in Hesse
In Hesse, tuberculosis has been diagnosed in a small child. Even with a sibling, there is a suspicion of the contagious infectious disease. Nationwide, tuberculosis cases have risen again recently.
Rising tuberculosis numbers in Germany
Although the number of tuberculosis diseases worldwide has been decreasing for years, around 1.5 million people still die every year from this dangerous infectious disease. After years of declining numbers, the number of cases of tuberculosis in the last few years has risen in Germany, according to an evaluation by the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) in Berlin. In Hesse, tuberculosis has now been diagnosed in a small child.
Tuberculosis was diagnosed in a small child in Hesse. In a sibling is also suspected of infectious infectious disease. (Image: magele-picture / fotolia.com) Risk of infection is classified as low
Tuberculosis has been diagnosed in a kindergarten child in the Bergstrasse district of Hesse. The district said that there is a suspicion of tuberculosis in a child's sibling.
According to the information, the risk of infection is classified as low. Nevertheless, they had contacted the kindergarten and planned an environmental investigation.
At the other child's school, an examination is also being conducted for classmates and teaching staff. It is said that the sick children are treated in a hospital in Mannheim.
Transmission by droplet infection
Tuberculosis (TB) is a bacterial infectious disease that affects the lungs in particular. It used to be called "consumption." The triggers are so-called "mycobacteria", which predominantly affect the lungs and are mainly transmitted during coughing, sneezing and speaking.
At the beginning of the disease, nonspecific symptoms such as coughing, night sweats and a slightly elevated temperature are more likely to appear. Later, the symptoms increase and it can include high fever, persistent cough with sputum and respiratory distress occur. The disease is now treatable by antibiotics.
According to experts, the disease can be overlooked during examinations, since it can take years from the infection to the onset of TBC. As the RKI writes on its website, there may even be "decades after infection" to a disease of tuberculosis, especially if the immune system is weakened. (Ad)