The infectious disease specialist named the categories of the population most vulnerable to tuberculosis

Medical specialists in Russia predict a decrease in the overall incidence of tuberculosis, Andrey Pozdnyakov, an infectious disease specialist at Invitro, told Izvestia on March 28. However, according to him, the growing proportion of patients with tuberculosis caused by multidrug-resistant Mycobacterium is of concern.

"This phenomenon is a global problem in medicine. The increase in cases of multidrug—resistant tuberculosis makes standard treatment regimens ineffective, forcing doctors to develop new experimental treatment regimens," the expert added.

The doctor also stressed that the COVID-19 pandemic has negatively affected the global tuberculosis situation, causing an increase in morbidity and mortality. According to him, access to medical care decreased during this period due to anti-epidemic measures. But in Russia, these indicators have remained relatively stable.

Pozdnyakov clarified that tuberculosis is not a disease exclusively of socially disadvantaged segments of the population. According to him, socially well-off people are increasingly suffering from it. A significant proportion of the cases are children, he added.

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"The development of severe forms of tuberculosis is prevented by proper BCG vaccination. Immunization is carried out once for newborns from the third to the seventh day of life," explained the infectious disease specialist.

Revaccination is carried out for children aged seven who have a consistently negative Mantoux test every year.

"A completely negative Mantoux test before the age of seven indicates that the primary vaccination was not effective enough and the necessary pool of immune cells responsible for fighting Mycobacterium tuberculosis was not formed," Pozdnyakov said.

The main tuberculosis prevention measures, the expert noted, are mainly non-medicinal. These include proper nutrition, minimizing stress, getting enough sleep, and washing your hands regularly.

According to him, medical methods of disease prevention are auxiliary in nature and are mainly limited to vitamin and mineral complexes.

"A person with a full-fledged immunocompetent status is significantly less susceptible to tuberculosis compared to people with immune deficiencies. That is why one of the most serious problems of modern phthisiology is the combination of tuberculosis and HIV infection," Pozdnyakov emphasized.

In HIV-infected patients with severe immune system disorders, tuberculosis often occurs in particularly severe, atypical forms with an unfavorable prognosis, he noted.

Earlier, on March 24, Nadezhda Semina, a general practitioner at the First Clinical Medical Center of Dobrograd, told Izvestia that many people experience vitamin deficiency in the spring. It is characterized by a deep, chronic and severe deficiency of one or more vitamins in the body. This condition can lead to serious metabolic and organ function disorders.