Thada Pawan K.
Punjab Medical College/University of Health Sciences
Tuberculosis is the oldest reported infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis and is known as the 'barometer of social welfare' because of its higher prevalence in less developed areas. Tuberculosis frequently affects the lungs but also affects other parts of the body. Scrofula (historically known as the king's evil) is the tuberculous cervical lymphadenitis caused by hematogenous or lymphatic dissemination of pulmonary TB or reactivation of latent TB or very rarely through primary involvement of adenoids or tonsils. It is the Latin term for Brood sow, which means the tuberculosis of the neck and is the most common extrapulmonary tuberculosis. The major cause of scrofula in the immunocompromised patients is Mycobacterium tuberculosis (95%), and atypical and nontuberculous mycobacteria cause the rest (5%). On the other hand, atypical and nontuberculous mycobacteria are mainly responsible for scrofula in immunocompetent children.
结核病是由结核分枝杆菌引起的有报道的最古老的传染病，因其在欠发达地区患病率较高而被称为“社会福利的晴雨表”。结核病常累及肺部，但也会影响身体的其他部位。瘰疬（历史上称为“国王的恶疾”）是由肺结核血行或淋巴播散、潜伏结核再激活，或极罕见地由腺样体或扁桃体原发性受累引起的结核性颈部淋巴结炎。它是拉丁语中“母猪”的意思，指颈部的结核病，是最常见的肺外结核。免疫功能低下患者患瘰疬的主要原因是结核分枝杆菌（95%），其余（5%）由非典型和非结核分枝杆菌引起。另一方面，非典型和非结核分枝杆菌是免疫功能正常儿童患瘰疬的主要原因。
