During the twentieth century, more than 300 million deaths worldwide were due to smallpox, however,

Tuberculosis has long been a disease that the human culture has been dealing with which entails significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. With dealing with such a horrific disease over the years, discoveries and evolution on the appropriate ways to contain, diagnose, and challengingly treat the disease has changed. One of the most concerning complications of this worldwide public health issue is the ability for it to quickly spread in high populated areas while becoming ever more resistant to forms of treatment not available in all locations around the world. This is a serious public

For a millennia, generations watched helplessly as their children fell prey to the devastating disease. But after rigorous vaccination campaigns in the 1960’s, the World Health Organization had confirmed the eradication of smallpox in 1979 with the last naturally occurring case being reported in 1977. In order to ensure another epidemic on the same scale smallpox doesn’t plague the human population, vaccinations against infectious diseases such as polio, diphtheria and rubella should be enforced without exclusions.

While tuberculosis was never completely eliminated, there was a significant drop in cases and death rates, as a result of the BCG vaccine and new anti-tubercular drugs in the 1950’s.

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 has been part of human history for a long time but how long is a long time? Recent research using genetic data has allowed us to know that the tuberculosis progenitor has been on this planet for about 3 million years affecting even our earlier ancestors (Gutierrez et al, 2005). Additionally this research showed that the bacilli from tuberculosis are capable of mixing sections of their genome with other strains and giving the pathogen a composite assembly, which resulted from ancient horizontal exchanges before its clonal expansion. This quality provided tuberculosis a big advantage that even now a days allows the organism to evade, adapt and create resistance to treatments that were once successful. In order to fix current and

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

Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious killer worldwide. However, over 95% of TB deaths occur in developing countries (WHO). TB is found to be a curable disease when appropriate medications and treatment are taken. Using the biomedical system is not sufficient to eradicate TB because medical interventions will fail if social determinates aren’t taken into considerations. The biomedical system is a key component in diminishing TB because it allows for diagnosis and control. Social determinants of health play a huge role in shaping one’s health. Three main social determinants that acts as a barrier in curing and preventing TB are income, food insecurity and access to health care.

Once believed to be easily treated and prevented, Tuberculosis (TB) has recently been making a steady comeback. Previous to modern medicine, TB claimed millions of victims, spreading from person to person like wildfire. Around the 17th-18th centuries, the “White Plague” took the lives of 1 in 5 adults (20%) in Europe and North America (Iseman, 1994). However, as technological advances progressed, this seemingly ferocious viral disease became a primal, insignificant thing of the past. But, in the nature of all bacteria, TB has, in the recent years, mutated to become progressively drug resistant. Why is Tuberculosis coming back with a vengeance? Well, the answer’s quite simple. TB has done an amazing job of standing in the corner and

Smallpox is one of the most lethal virus’ known to man. It is devastating to individual systems, and it’s high level of contagion makes it a major threat to populations, as seen historically, before mass vaccination was available. For many years before an understanding about the virus was developed, thousands suffered and died from it, with no relief except perhaps that of a comforting nurse. As scientific inquiry advanced, so did the approach to dealing with the virus, beginning with its primitive inoculation, to it's eradication from the natural environment. In recent years, the study of the virus has lead to harnessing it in the laboratory with the constant threat of biological warfare. The virus now lays dormant in freezers of American

Tuberculosis is considered to be another surfacing disease. According to the Institute of Medicine, they believe the sole reason of the resurgence of tuberculosis is the increase in immunosuppressed populations. In industrialized countries, peoples

TB is an unevenly spread disease due to structural violence and cultural arrangements present in today’s society. These unnatural causes create a social and medical barrier that makes TB more

Among many misconceptions, tuberculosis is not a disease of the past. Tuberculosis remains a public health issue. It is estimated that one-third of the total world population is infected by tuberculosis (TB). The American lung association (2013) states, in 2011 alone there were nearly 9,000,000 new diagnosed cases of tuberculosis around the world and an estimated 1.4 million deaths because of this disease. In the United States, TB is not as common (but still a problem). In 2011, only 10,500 people reported having TB (Trends in Tuberculosis Morbidity and

Often times, people in third world countries face health problems that are not experienced in first and second world countries. Diseases that do not exist in the countries such as the US anymore are still some of the leading problems in poor nations. Professor Susan Craddock from the department of Gender, Woman and Sexuality studies gave a presentation that focused on Tuberculosis, which is falls into a category of diseases called “neglected diseases”. They are called neglected because the development of vaccines and drugs to cure the diseases has decreased to about nothing. The market for these drugs is not lucrative enough for pharmaceutical companies in higher income countries to invest in research. Since the low income countries do not have the resources to carry out research for these drugs the number of neglected disease-related deaths has increased. I found the presentation interesting and enlightening especially because I am interested in the pharmaceutical field. In response to the neglected diseases, different organizations have come together to research and develop vaccines and drugs that can treat these diseases.

“Despite all the ghastliness in the world, human beings are made for goodness, the ones that held in high regard are not militarily powerful nor economically prosperous. They have a commitment to try and make the world a better place” (Desmond Tutu,15)- Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Strong words of hope and faith in humanity come from a man who is regarded in the same heights as Ghandi. Archbishop Desmond Tutu is a survivor of the deadly disease known as, Tuberculosis. According to the CDC, “One third of the world’s population is infected with TB” . A staggering number, but the amount of deaths from TB is even more astonishing, “1.8 million deaths in 2015” (Center for Disease Control). Most people get confused with what exactly tuberculosis even is, whether people say it’s like the flu or bronchitis, but it’s something truly life threatening. Tuberculosis is not exclusive to only one race, ethnicity, or gender, tuberculosis is able to kill anyone regardless of age. Therefore, it is important to raise awareness and educate all the people in the world of the Tuberculosis.

Although Africa and other developing nations lead in the number of those infected with tuberculosis, the infected population in the world is currently estimated to be at around one third of the