Tuberculosis : A World 's Second Deadliest Disease

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

Now, scientists are warning signs of risks of tuberculosis and share information about bacterias and viruses. Today, when a new germ is known, they have a better chance of learning how to cure and fight it. Volunteers take the time to help in laborites in the United States, South America, Central America, and Asia. The World Health Organization reports that third of the world’s population is infected and eight million people get sick from tuberculosis that is identified to be helped by medicine from spreading the disease to

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

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

Tuberculosis, the white plague as used to be called once upon a time is still one of the deadliest bacterial killers affecting almost all parts, all corners of the globe. Though successful anti-tubercular antibiotic regimens and effective vaccine are available for decades and being used in the battle against Koch’s bacillus, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of this chronic multi organ granulomatous disease, our strand in the battle continuously seems to be in the losing side. Moreover the increasing prevalence of HIV-AIDS and diabetes mellitus is being proved to be providing predisposition to tuberculosis. As witnessed by the WHO, which has estimated that, in the year 2012, 8.6 million people have developed tuberculosis and 1.3 million have died of the disease including 320000 deaths of HIV-TB co-infected people (Global tuberculosis report 2013. World Health Organization; 2013). Long term antibiotic therapy and that too associated with several side effects and discomforts have diminished patient compliance with the anti-tubercular chemotherapy. This fact in turn has raised the new deadlier MDR-TB and XDR-TB strains. The whole scenario is a matter of panic and questioning the effectiveness of anti-tubercular antibiotics, immunologic efficacy of century old BCG vaccine and all other medical advents.

According to the World Health Organization, tuberculosis (TB) is the number two killer worldwide due to a single infectious agent (WHO, 2017). In 2015, 10.4 million new cases have been identified and 1.8 million people have died from this disease (WHO, 2017). TB is caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium TB, and the majority of TB deaths occur in low and middle-income countries. This disease is curable and preventable, but the lack of access to proper healthcare and medication administration makes it a concern for the most of the world’s population. TB is an airborne disease that can transmit when an infected person coughs, sneezes, spits, laughs, or talks. The majority of TB cases can be cured when the right medications are available and

In fact, if tuberculosis is reexamined from the point of view of those living in poverty, a radically different picture emerges” (Farmer, 187). He describes that rates of TB have gone down in the United States and other wealthy countries, and is then, considered a minimal affecting disease. However, recent history shows that TB has been re-introduced and spread back into the wealthier nations especially in their poor communities, but these countries are considering this disease as new and emerging. Farmer states, “If certain populations have long been afflicted by these disorders, why are diseases considered new or emerging? Is it simply because they have come to affect more visible – read, more valuable – persons?”

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.

It is very important to know that TB can be treated and cured by taking the required medication that could last for around 6 to 9 months depending in the dosages. It is very important as recommended for all types of medication to make sure it is taking properly and is finished to avoid getting sick all over again. Selected studies were evaluated for their objective(s), design, geographical and institutional setting, and generalizability. Studies reporting health outcomes were categorized as primarily addressing efficacy or effectiveness of the intervention (Cobbelens, 2012). Tuberculosis can be cured and the social elements have always been an important issue on who will get the disease and who will be able to receive help to become cured. This disease will remain a worldwide issue for many individuals. Medication is continuing to treat as well as cure the advances of this disease and technology and medication has changed over the years, that it has become a way of shortening the amount of therapy that is needed. Perhaps in the future individuals will commit resources, plan and implement interventions that are needed to help reduce the deaths that are caused by TB. References Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2009). The Centers for Law The Public Health. Retrieved from HYPERLINK http//www.cdc.gov/tb/programs/TBLawPolicyHandbook.pdf http//www.cdc.gov/tb/programs/TBLawPolicyHandbook.pdf Cobbelens, F.

During the twentieth century, more than 300 million deaths worldwide were due to smallpox, however, in 1980 after a global collaboration led by the World Health Organization, the first infectious disease to be eradicated was smallpox. On the other hand, during the 20th century tuberculosis which was once thought to have been declining in developed countries, is now according to WHO (2013) second only to HIV/AIDS as the greatest killer worldwide. This disease has been estimated by The World Health Organisation (2013) to kill 1.3 million people per year, the majority of those being in developed countries. Therefore, in this essay I will compare the prospects for control and eradication of tuberculosis to smallpox, with a reference to the

Nations which have poor control of the AIDS epidemic also often have poor control of TB, effectively creating a ‘perfect storm’ of the prevalence of both diseases (Wells et al 2007). Individuals with AIDS are more susceptible to contracting TB and an environment where TB is prevalent can worsen the prognosis for individuals with TB. Developing world nations also have poor sanitation, longer wait times to see doctors due to problems of healthcare access, and other barriers which inhibit the needed speedy treatment of the disorder which can result in ineffective treatment and worsening of

“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.

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).