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Tuberculosis : A Common Bacterial Infection Essay

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Tuberculosis, also known as TB, is a very common bacterial infection. It can travel through your bloodstream and infect any organ in your body. It can be in an inactive form, which means these people will never develop symptoms. Those with weaker immune systems are more likely to have an active TB infection. Tuberculosis is caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which is also the scientific name of tuberculosis. Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a long, slender, straight (sometimes slightly curved) rod. It is neither gram-positive, nor gram-negative because it has a high lipid content within its wall. Because of this, acid-fast staining is used. Mycobacteria tuberculosis reproduce by binary fission which is a form of asexual reproduction. They reproduce quickest and best in an oxygenated area ("Tuberculosis", 2016). Below, you will find all you need to know about tuberculosis, including epidemiology, incubation and duration, signs and symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, and even a case study on TB itself.
Epidemiology
According to cdc.gov, last updated June 17, 2016, “Epidemiology is the study of the distribution and determinants of health-related states and events in specified populations.” Almost 8.6 million cases of tuberculosis were approximated to have been diagnosed in 2012. 2.9 million of these cases were said to be women. These cases have occurred primarily in Asia and Africa, but India and China were found to have the majority of these cases. Although there have been many

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