Being Infected with Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis is a deadly disease that is now affecting our world and the people living in it in a horrible way. Due to many factors such as poverty, HIV/AIDS, and lack of health care, many third world and developing countries have been left very vulnerable to tuberculosis. It is affecting a large part of these countries and is leading them deeper into poverty and sickness. The effort to help these countries against tuberculosis has only been slightly effective against this widespread and destructive disease.

Tuberculosis is a disease of an infectious nature caused by a bacterium known as mycobacterium tuberculosis. The disease spreads through the air. People with the disease can spread it to susceptible people through coughing, sneezing, talking or spitting. It mainly affects the lungs and other parts such as the lymph nodes and kidneys can also be affected. The symptoms for TB are fatigue, coughing, night sweats, weight loss and fever. One third of the population of the world is affected with mycobacterium tuberculosis. The rate of infection is estimated to be one person per second. About 14 million people in the world are infected with active tuberculosis. Drug resistant TB has been recorded to be a serious public health hazard in many countries. Resistant strains have developed making it difficult to treat the disease. TB has caused millions of death mainly in people living with HIV/AIDS ADDIN EN.CITE Ginsberg19981447(Ginsberg, 1998)1447144717Ginsberg, Ann M.The Tuberculosis Epidemic: Scientific Challenges and OpportunitiesPublic Health Reports (1974-)Public Health Reports (1974-)128-13611321998Association of Schools of Public Health00333549http://www.jstor.org/stable/4598234( HYPERLINK l "_ENREF_3" o "Ginsberg, 1998 #1447" Ginsberg, 1998). The World Health Organization came up with the DOTS (Directly Observed, Therapy, Short course) strategy. The approach involves diagnosing cases and treating patients with drugs for about 6-8

TB is transmitted through droplets released from the lungs when a person infected with active pulmonary TB coughs, sneezes, or speaks for long periods of time. These droplets can linger in the air for several hours and can be potentially inhaled by another individual. The people who are most at risk for being infected with the M. Tuberculosis bacteria are babies, children, and the elderly. People who live or work in nursing homes, prisons, homeless shelters, or travel or have lived in high TB-infected areas or countries such as India, Africa, or China are also at higher risk. Other risk factors include poor nutrition, limited access to healthcare, immunodeficiency conditions, or use of drugs that suppress immune functions (Kelly, Wilker, & Ambrose, 2011). Extrapulmonary TB, on the other hand, is generally not transmitted unless it becomes active in the

Infectious diseases are one of the most challenging adversities that the human race faces. Diseases that once wiped out large populations are now well understood, preventative measures can be taken, and effective treatment methods provided. However, as science has evolved so have the infectious diseases that are seen. An example of an infectious disease that has been studied and continues to be seen today is Tuberculosis. Tuberculosis has been a health hazard for many centuries and was once an epidemic. Medical advances and studies have been able to enlighten not only the etiology, but also the mode of transmission, ways to diagnose, and ways to treat and/or manage infection.

As this disease is most prevalent in developing countries, losing money is hugely impactful on society. The living conditions in these places are very poor, helping TB to spread faster and without having the opportunity to spend this money on cleaner water and sustainable living for its inhabitants, it leads to a global pandemic. Treatment for TB is not only costly, but also very lengthy and leads to people pulling out of the workforce for long amounts of time. This is expected in the next ten years, to cost the world’s poorest countries up to $3 trillion and is responsible for a production decrease of about 4-7% in some countries’ GDP. Tuberculosis is very threatening to society today, as treatment is very expensive for people living in these

In the United States, the incidence rate per year is less than 4 per a population of 100,000. In other countries such as sub-Saharan Africa and Asia the incidence rate is much greater, a few hundred per 100,000. This disease is a very important concern for travelers from the US who travel to places where they might have prolonged exposure to tuberculosis. These travelers or people who plan to spend time in healthcare facilities, correctional facilities, or homeless shelters should receive a 2-step TB skin test. If a person is infected with TB they are encouraged to not travel by commercial airplanes for the risk of spreading the infection. (LoBue, 2015) Tuberculosis is still a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in many developing countries around the globe. Even though there was a declining trend of this disease after the discovery of chemotherapy in the 1940s, this was not the case for developing countries. Tuberculosis was the first infectious disease to be declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organization. Asia and Arica constitute for 86% of the cases in 2007, when they were 9.27 million incident cases of tuberculosis, 13.7 million prevalent cases, 1.32 million death due to tuberculosis in people who were HIV-negative, and 0.45 million deaths in people who were HIV-positive. There are 22 high-burden countries and Bangladesh is ranked number 6. The implementation of directly observed therapy short course (DOTS) was a breakthrough for a way to control TB. It actually covered the whole country of Bangladesh, after being started in 1993. Tuberculosis is also associated with the poorest parts of communities and the highest rates of TB are actually because of poverty. Conditions like, overcrowding in schools, poor nutrition, overcrowded living conditions, as well as poor hygiene habits are likely to

For thousands of years’ tuberculosis, has been a continuous epidemic. The disease itself continually finds way to become resistant to the drugs found to fight against it. Mainly affecting developing countries, and those with less access to health care the infection continues to be a clear and present danger. Educating the people on tuberculosis and the way to prevent it, along with the risks factors associated with the disease may help save many lives. The vaccine needs to be more readily available to make sure the people are protected. This paper explains the basics of tuberculosis along with its risk factors, prevalence, assessment, and prevention techniques centered around the global aspect of this disease. Within the paper there are two journal articles along with other internet sources that will more thoroughly explain what tuberculosis is, how to prevent it, and how to treat it. The first article Tuberculosis: a clear and present danger by Lowth (2016) essentially summarizes everything there is to know about tuberculosis including the risks and symptoms of the infection. While the other article Tuberculosis: Which drug regimen and when by Hall, J., &Elliot, C (2015) focuses on the treatment of the two different types of Tuberculosis along with the interventions and complication involved.

Tuberculosis today has established its roots as a global epidemic killing more than two million people each year and threatening the lives of the billions it infects. Although tuberculosis has been a notifiable disease since the 1990s, the impact of the disease has been underestimated due to lack of data on incidence and financial burden of the illness. Trends in recent years indicate that tuberculosis incidence rates have not only stabilized but declined steadily which indeed is phenomenal progress. But while progress is being made one should not forget the fact that tuberculosis still is the leading cause of death worldwide among HIV/AIDS infected individuals and

Tuberculosis (TB) continue to be a major public health problem world wide (Lönnroth, Migliori, Abubakar, D’Ambrosio, de Vries, Diel,…Raviglione, 2015). Approximately one-third of the worlds population is infected with the bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis and are at risk for developing TB. The WHO’s Global Tuberculosis Report 2017 reported an astounding 10.4 million cases of confirmed TB and an estimated 1.8 million TB related death worldwide in 2016. Unfortunately, 95 percent of the global TB pandemic are in low- and middle-income countries where there is a lack of resources to combat or appropriately address such issue.

Tuberculosis is present from an epidemiological aspect in many low-income and middle-income countries. The World Health Organization (WHO) has estimated in 2015 over 90% cases and has valued that one third of the population is infected with Mtb. This showed the tragic effects of TB when is not cured. In addition, the spread of tuberculosis is greater due to the migration of population, which is also cause the reactivation of remotely acquired latent tuberculosis infection (Xu et al., 2009). The latent TB is difficult to detect and different factors such as HIV can trigger the activation of the bacteria. Tuberculosis can be treatable if it is detected in an early stage by

Tuberculosis (TB) is a highly infectious disease that can harm any organ of the body, especially the lungs. Every year about over a million people die due to tuberculosis and even more are infected. A person in contact with an infected individual can easily put themselves at risks of getting TB. Due to the emergence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), tuberculosis infections commenced to increment more rapidly. A person with HIV has an impotent immune system which is not able to fight infections such as tuberculosis. There are many ways to diagnose, prevent and treat the further spread of this disease.

Tuberculosis is abbreviated “TB”, which is a worldwide communicable disease, makes 33% of the world’s population get infected ("Centers for Disease Control and Prevention", 2016). According to the study of the World Health organization (2015), 1500 thousand people (1100 thousand HIV-negative and 400thousand HIV-positive) died due to TB in 2014 and 9600 thousand people are estimated to have fallen ill with TB in 2014. In addition, there were 9,563 causes being reported with TB (approximately 3.0 cases per 100,000 persons) in the America in 2015 ("Centers for Disease Control and Prevention", 2016). Therefore, TB is an unignorably global health issue and health workers need to collaborate to huddle and control this critical problem. Tuberculosis is caused by bacteria, Mycobacterium tuberculosis and can affect many organ systems; however, TB generally influence on the lung. The common symptoms of the TB disease include a chronic cough with blood or sputum for over 3 weeks or longer, weight loss, fever, night sweat, weakness or fatigue and no appetite ("Centers for Disease Control and Prevention", 2016). TB can divide into latent TB and active TB. A person, who has latent TB infection, has no symptoms and is unable to spread TB disease to the other. On the other hand, an individual who is diagnosed with active TB disease, is sick with symptoms and can spread bacteria by airborne to other people. Moreover, without the appropriate treatment, the complications may cause permanent

Phthisis, consumption, white death, great white plague, and a robber of youth (Frith, 2014, p.29), know today, as tuberculosis had been one of the world’s most deadly pathogens worldwide. Dating back to the 18th century and continuing into today’s society and accounting for most HIV/AIDS deaths. A death rate of 1.4 million worldwide and an estimate that one third of the world’s population has developed a strain of TB in 2011 (Ting W-Y, 2014, p. 1). “In Canada there are about 1,600 new cases a year” (“the facts of tuberculosis” n.d). TB (tuberculosis) is primarily an illness of the lungs and respiratory system, however; it can be contracted to other parts of the body. In this paper, I will explore not only the signs and symptoms of TB, but

Tuberculosis (TB) is a highly contagious disease that could cause death if it is not treated. TB is caused by bacteria called Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and it affects the lungs and other human organs (Frith, 2014). Tuberculosis is an airborne disease that could be transmitted by sneezing, coughing, and speaking. According to world health organization (WHO), 9.6 million people were affected by Tuberculosis and 1.5 million died from the disease in 2014 worldwide. 9,421 cases of Tuberculosis were reported in United States in 2014 which has declined comparing to 26,673 cases reported in 1992. According to Center for Disease Control and Prevention, there are seven high-risk factor countries that are affected by Tuberculosis. Mexico, Philippines, Vietnam, India, china, Haiti, and Guatemala are the countries which still have high risk of Tuberculosis infection. Throughout history Tuberculosis was associated with different names. Some of those names are: phthisis and consumption in 18th century, white death and the great white plague in 19th century and other names to describe the horror caused by the disease. Previously people have used human breast milk, eating wolf livers, drinking elephant urine, and etc.as a treatment for TB (Frith,2014). In 21st century Tuberculosis is treated by medications like: isoniazid (INH), Rifampin (RIF), Rifapentine (RPT), Ethambutol (EMB), and Pyrazinamide (PZA). The treatments are highly effective and are used to treat people who are exposed and

Tuberculosis is among the fatal diseases that are spread through the air. It’s contagious, meaning that it spreads from one infected individual to another, and at times it spreads very fast. In addition to being contagious, the disease is an opportunist infection as it takes advantage of those with weak defense mechanism, and especially the ones with terminal diseases like HIV and AIDS. Tuberculosis is therefore among the major concerns for the World Health Organization due to its contagious nature (World Health Organization 1).