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TUBERCULOSIS AND DIARRHOEA

Health problems are all around us. If we know what to do and how to behave, we can stop germs from being passed on to others.

Tuberculosis (TB)

TB is an infection of the lungs that spreads throughout the body. People dies from TB every year. There is a cure, but you need to know the symptoms before its too late.

The symptoms of TB:

- A cough that lasts long	- Getting weaker and thinner (losing weight)	- Feeling tired (no energy)
- Not wanting to eat	- Sweating heavily at night

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What is the treatment of TB?

If you think you have TB, you must go to a clinic or a doctor. The doctor will take a little bit of your spit, called a sample, and will have it checked under a microscope to see if your body has the TB virus.
A doctor will also send you for chest x-rays to see if your lungs has fluid in them.
If you are tested positive, you will be put on very strong tablets, which you will have to take for a minimum of 6 months. In some cases, it can last up to two years.
Sometimes, people will stop taking the tablets if they start feeling better. This is very dangerous because the virus is not completely dead in you body. What will then happen is that the virus will make you sick again, and it will become stronger because it was given time to learn about the medication in the tablet and then get use to the strength of the tablet, making it harder to kill the virus.

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What should be done to stop ourselves from getting TB?

Having a BCG vaccination can prevent you from getting infected.
An infected person needs to cover his/her mouth when coughing, or where a mask.
If one person in the house has TB, everyone in the house needs to be tested for TB.
And if it is possible, the infected person needs to sleep separately from others.

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What is diarrhoea?

Diarrhoea is a stomach infection that forces the body to lose lots of fluids and turn solid stools into loose/watery stools.
You can be infected with diarrhoea by eating contaminated food or by not cleaning your hands regularly.
People die from diarrhoea when they become extremely dehydrated.

Symptoms of diarrhoea:

Frequently needing to use the toilet to pass stool. And the stool comes out loose or watery.
Stomach cramps and pain.

How to treat diarrhoea?

It is important to replace the fluids you lost when passing watery stool. So, if you are self medicating, after each stool, drink at least one tall class of water.
Otherwise, you must see a doctor if it does not go away after 2-3 days.

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CAUSES OF HEALTH PROBLEMS, SYMPTOMS AND TEATMENT

Malaria, measles, cholera, tuberculosis, polio and typhoid are some infectious diseases that can be passed on from one person to the next in different ways.

AIR

Colds and flus spread easily in the air. This happens when an infected person coughs or sneezes without covering his/her nose or mouth. In crowded places, these viruses can spread quickly from one person to the next.

WATER

Cholera, dysentery and typhoid are diseases that affects the intestines inside the body. These diseases enters the body through water which is not treated, in other words cleaned. People will urinate or pass stool in rivers, and people who lives further down the river who drinks the water becomes sick.

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FOOD