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Tuberculosis Is The Disease Of The Lung Caused By A Bacterium Called Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Essay

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Tuberculosis is the disease of the lung caused by a bacterium called mycobacterium tuberculosis. TB is transmitted through airborne route when a person with TB coughs or sneeze into the air which is then inhaled by non-infected person and cause TB infection. In people who are co-infected with HIV and TB, about 50% may develop TB disease. There is a difference between TB infection and TB disease. In South Africa about 88% of the adult population is infected with TB be but not sick of a TB disease. Under normal circumstances 10% of people infected with TB will develop TB in their life time. Factors like age, immunological status, malnutrition and stress determine the susceptibility of the host to TB disease. TB is curable even if a person is HIV positive. 2.2 The Global Picture of TB Epidemic There were 8.6million people suffering from TB in the world, where 1.1million were people living with HIV. In 2012 TB accounted for 1.3million deaths where 50% of patients who died were HIV positive women. TB is the top killer of women of reproductive age (Organisation, 2014). Global statistics showed 45% decrease in TB mortality since 1990. The world is likely to reach the MDG target of 50% by 2015 (Ravinglione M, 2006). The report paints a good picture about TB management in the world whereas the reality is that more people are reported to have died of TB when the disease is curable. The number of people diagnosed with MDR in the world doubled between 2011& 2012 with the introduction

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