Is bronchiectasis contagious?

The article is written by Master, Doctor Tran Thi Diem Trang - Department of Examination & Internal Medicine - Vinmec Central Park International General Hospital

Bronchiectasis is a condition in which the bronchi of the lungs are dilated and difficult to recover from. Along with lung cancer and tuberculosis, bronchiectasis is a lung disease that can be life-threatening.

Bronchiectasis is a disease in which the bronchi are inflamed and infected, leading to destruction of the supporting organization of the bronchi such as smooth muscle and cartilage, causing the bronchi to dilate and not recover. The structure of the bronchial wall is destroyed and replaced by fibrous tissue, causing the bronchial wall to thicken, the bronchial lumen to narrow. At the same time, the bronchi are chronically inflamed, the ciliary system is destroyed, the mucus is excessively secreted... leading to a series of important symptoms and complications on the lungs and the whole body.
In very severe cases, airway dilation occurs in both lungs, greatly affecting breathing. In addition, this dilation makes it difficult to bring secretions (sputum, mucus) from the lower respiratory tract to the upper respiratory tract and out. These sticky secretions are ideal habitats for the life and growth of many types of bacteria. This leads to infection, further damage to the airways and worsening bronchiectasis. Therefore, this is a vicious cycle of bronchiectasis. Like other lung diseases, bronchiectasis accounts for a relatively high incidence.
Dangerous complications of bronchiectasis can cause more widespread bronchiectasis, recurrent superinfection, lung abscess, emphysema, emphysema, coughing up blood, vomiting blood causing airway obstruction, Severe heart failure makes breathing difficult and leads to rapid death.

Common symptoms of bronchiectasis are:
Cough: the patient may have a dry cough or a productive cough. Cough with phlegm, found in 80% of patients with bronchiectasis, they usually produce the most sputum in the morning, or sometimes they produce sputum evenly throughout the day. The amount of sputum is more or less depending on the patient, usually sputum: from 20-100 ml/day. Cough that recurs sometimes with hemoptysis. Hemoptysis is the final complication of 50% of bronchiectasis. Coughing up blood usually occurs after a severe infection and can last for months or years. Chest pain may be a prominent symptom suggestive of recurrent respiratory infections. Shortness of breath, wheezing are common in patients with advanced stage. The patient's bronchi are narrow, lose their ability to stretch and have a large amount of phlegm in the airways, making it difficult for air to flow. Although bronchiectasis is not reversible, it is treatable to relieve symptoms, limit the progression of symptoms, and help stop the vicious cycle of repeated infections.

Do you have bronchiectasis and you worry it will infect the people around you? Or are you afraid of catching bronchiectasis from someone? And are you looking for an official answer to this problem?
The answer can be “Yes” or “No” because it depends on the cause of the bronchiectasis.
If you have congenital bronchiectasis (due to poor peripheral lung development) or heredity, the disease is not contagious but can be inherited. The disease is also not contagious if you are exposed to toxic chemical vapors or chemicals that enter the airways causing wear and tear, bronchiectasis; Or when tumors, foreign objects compress the bronchi, causing the bronchi under the narrow place to increase the pressure regularly, causing you to have bronchiectasis. However, these cases often appear as superinfections, so your bronchiectasis can spread to others. And if your bronchiectasis develops after necrotizing bronchial inflammation, usually due to recurrent bronchial or lung infections, such as measles, whooping cough, and influenza, the answer will be “yes” ” to the question of whether bronchiectasis is contagious. Thus, the cause of your bronchiectasis is genetic and congenital without an infection it will not be contagious. If the cause is a virus, the disease can be transmitted from an infected person to a healthy person through the respiratory tract.

When you have bronchiectasis, the treatment is quite expensive and complicated, so prevention to avoid disease is very necessary.
First of all, you need to get vaccinated against flu, because when you have a cold, your body's resistance is reduced, you will be very susceptible to ear, nose, and throat infections and respiratory tract infections that result in bronchiectasis. For children, it is necessary to be fully vaccinated in the Expanded Immunization Program to prevent diseases: Tuberculosis, measles, diphtheria, and pertussis because children with these diseases are very susceptible to bronchiectasis in adulthood. .
When suffering from congenital or acquired diseases such as: bronchial polyps, airway foreign bodies, benign or malignant lung tumors, primary tuberculosis, lung abscess, pneumonia, acute and chronic bronchitis, Ear, nose and throat infections... need to be treated definitively, in order to avoid sequelae which are the cause of bronchiectasis in the future.
Should be careful when going to crowded places, because not only bronchiectasis, can also infect other pathogens, especially during the epidemic season.
Please use medical masks when taking care of people with bronchiectasis, or going to public places.
For those who work in an environment that has to be exposed to volatile chemicals, it is necessary to use labor protection means such as wearing masks, glasses or respirators.
Daily oral hygiene, to avoid infection through the respiratory tract, prevent the consequences of bronchiectasis.
Keep the body warm, avoid getting cold, prevent bacteria and viruses from entering the body. Limit exposure to polluted, dusty, humid environments...
Enhance nutrition in the daily diet to strengthen the body's immune system and prevent the risk of disease. Avoid drinking carbonated water, alcohol, coffee, tobacco...