Tuberculosis Essay

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 much of the 19th century into the early 20th century, tuberculosis was the disease with false connotations attached to it, but as time passed and the cause and cure of

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.

The tremendous amounts of new cases caused by the worldwide spread of the disease sparked the curiosity of many scientists. In 1819, modern understanding of tuberculosis began with Rene Laennec when he invented the stethoscope, allowing him to illustrate the development and physical signs of the disease. In 1865, Jean-Antoine Villemin conducting experiments with rabbits was able to demonstrate the transmissibility of the disease. In 1882 the way tuberculosis was seen and understood around the world changed dramatically when Robert Koch and Herman Heinrich presented the Koch-Heinrich postulates in which they identified tubercle bacillus and set modern standard for demonstrating infectious diseases (Daniel, 2006). In 1907, the tuberculin skin test was developed by Clemens Von Pirquet, permitting early detection of the disease even with asymptomatic patients.

Tuberculosis patients could consult private pulmonologists, but they had to pay for the visits and for the very expensive second-line drugs the pulmonologists prescribed. Farmer and Kim and Bayona would soon meet people whose families had sold most of their meager possessions and had bought as much of those drugs as they could. Not enough to get cured, however, only enough to acquire further resistance. (140)

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

Mycobacterium Tuberculosis, the bacteria that causes TB, has existed for centuries. The oldest recorded account of TB can be found in the literature by Hippocrates from around 460 BC (Tranotti, n.d.). However, at this point the infection was referred to as phthisis. Now at this time, this disease seemed to spell out the inevitable death for its prey. Hippocrates went so far as to advise his colleagues in the medical field to stay away from patients of the viral disease in order for the physicians not to lose their reputations due to the inevitability of their deaths. Later, in 1679, Dr. Franciscus Sylvius identified the anatomy and pathology of the disease. He was the first to identify actual tubercles, abscesses, and cavities in the lungs of patients as a result of the virus which led to its naming of Tuberculosis (A History of Tuberculosis Treatment, n.d.). About forty years later, English physician Benjamin Martin

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.

Evidence of tuberculosis of the cervical lymph nodes or lymph nodes of the neck termed scrofula is found in the Middle ages. It was termed as the “king’s evil” and was widely believed that the kings of England and France could cure scrofula simply by touching those affected

Tuberculosis (Mycobacterium tuberculosis), also known as TB, is a disease spread by respiratory inhalation of droplets that contain the bacteria. Tuberculosis is an ancient disease that has been traced back at least 9000 years. In 1882, Dr. Robert Koch was the first physician to describe Mycobacterium tuberculosis as the germ responsible for tuberculosis. However, treatment that was evidenced based was not put into practice until the 20th century. It is estimated that 2 billion people around the world are infected with the TB bacteria. Approximately 5 to 10 percent of these infected people will actual develop active TB and experience the life-threatening symptoms of the disease. Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis is one of the major causes of death from many infectious diseases (3). Out of 9 million people who are infected with mycobacteria, about 2 million deaths occur from tuberculosis every year (3). Unfortunately, the prevalence of tuberculosis is in a continuous increase due to increased number of Human immunodeificnecy virus (HIV) patients, bacterial resistance to anti-tuberculous drugs, and growing number of recreational drug users (3). The pathogen responsible for bacterial infection, potentially causing tuberculosis, is mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) (2). Persons with adequate immune system can control the bacterial infection so mycobacteria remain dormant for a long time (11). In a typical tuberculous granuloma, mature

Murphy and Blank chronicle the story of the tuberculosis microorganism, the greatest serial killer of all time.Tuberculosis has been infecting people for millions of years and has killed many humans. This fascinating tale unfolds as a biography of a germ, an account of the treatment and search for cures, and a social history of the disease.This is the story of a killer that has been striking people down for thousands of years.After centuries of ineffective treatments, the microorganism that causes TB was identified, and the cure was thought to be within reach--but drug-resistant varieties continue to plague and panic the human race. The "biography" of this deadly germ, an account of the diagnosis, treatment, and "cure" of the disease over time,and

“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).