Tuberculosis : The Ancient Bacteria

“TB is a contagious and often severe airborne disease caused by infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) bacteria. TB typically affects the lungs, but it can also affect any other organ of the body,"(tuberculosis, 2015). Tb can be classified as either latent or active. TB is called latent when a person has the Tb bacteria but does not feel sick. This person cannot spread the bacteria but it does increase the chance that they will be diagnosed with active TB if they become immunocompromised. Active TB displays full blows signs and symptoms of TB and can be spread to other people through droplets in the air.

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, 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

Originally known as consumption and/or phthisis pulmonaris, evidence of TB has existed in the form of ancient writings from ancient Egypt. Furthermore, the organism causing tuberculosis (Mycobacterium tuberculosis) has existed for approximately 15,000 to 20,000 years. Despite the origins of tuberculosis dating back for ages, tuberculosis did not fully reach a critical epidemic status until the 18th and 19th centuries, when nearly one-tenth of the population died as a result of many factors, “Poorly ventilated and overcrowded housing, primitive sanitation, malnutrition and other factors led to the rise [of tuberculosis]” (Mandal 1). Ultimately, the horrendous atmosphere of Victorian England completely influenced the inevitable impact of tuberculosis as it led to significant symptoms and then the unhurried discovery of tuberculosis treatment. As a result, the view towards tuberculosis in the Victorian Era fundamentally changed. Meanwhile, tuberculosis emerged and did not spare anyone as famous English citizens including Robert Louis Stevenson, Edgar Allan Poe, and Frederic Chopin all succumbed to the deadly disease.

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

Despite the accessibility of inexpensive and successful treatment, tuberculosis still accounts for millions of cases of active disease and deaths worldwide. The disease unreasonably has an effect on the neediest persons in both high-income and developing countries. However, recent improvements in diagnostics, drugs, vaccines and enhanced implementation of present interventions have increased the outlooks for enhanced clinical care and global tuberculosis restriction.

In an era where we consider the improvement of technology as the key to overcoming most a finding of diseases. Tuberculosis disease has been in existence for years; the ancient plague of tuberculosis continues to spread throughout population and countries. Beyond any other infectious disease. “In 2013, 9 million people around the world became sick with TB disease. There were around 1.5 million TB-related deaths worldwide (Kim, Shakow, Castro, Vande, & Farmer, 2015).” With all the technology improvement and drugs we still struggle to manage this deadly disease. Between 18th and19th century tuberculosis spread and reaches its maximal growth in urban and industrial environment of the united states and Europe. During that time in the Western

For many centuries, tuberculosis was considered a death sentence. However, the development of antibiotics and methods of controlling the disease substantially reduced its prevalence. TB is caused by a bacteria and is highly contagious as it is spread through the air. While usually a respiratory disorder that affects the lungs TB “can also affect other parts of the body, such as the brain, the kidneys, or the spine” (CDC 2012). Multidrug-resistant TB, however, is resistant to two of the most potent drugs used to contain the illness, isoniazid and rifampin (CDC 2012). Both drug-resistant and standard TB are spread in the same fashion; misuse of antibiotics such as discontinuing them

Tuberculosis is the second-highest cause of death worldwide, and over one and a half million people

The bacteria that caused TB is spread through the air from person to person. The TB bacteria are put into the air when a person with TB disease coughs, sneezes, speaks, or sings. People nearby may breathe in these bacteria and become infected. It is caused by bacteria that spread from person to person through microscopic droplets into the air. This can happen with the untreated, active form of tuberculosis does any of the following actions that were previously mentioned. Although tuberculosis is contagious, it is not easy to catch. TB bacteria can live in the body without making you sick. This is called latent TB infection. In most people who breathe in TB bacteria and become infected, the body is able to fight the bacteria to stop them from growing. People with

Tuberculosis (TB) is considered to be a leading cause of infectious lung disease, and considered the foremost cause of death due to a single microorganism, Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB). According to the latest WHO report, there were around 9.6 million new TB cases emerging and 1.5 million deaths caused by TB in 2014. Furthermore, the number of cases with latent TB, who are asymptomatically infected by MTB, was estimated to include one third of the world population, which corresponds to more than two billion individuals. (1) The disease is further complicated with the development of drug resistance and co-infection, which sets a huge obstacle for TB treatment.

There are different types of TB that a person can develop a couple examples are latent and active. Latent TB is where there are no physical symptoms of the disease, making it hard to diagnose unless the correct tests are carried out for example chest x-rays. This type is not contagious and if not treated can eventually become active and contagious. Active type of TB is where the bacteria infects different organs, mainly the lungs causing this type to be contagious.

For years now drug resistance is increasing and not just in one or two strands of bacteria, it is in all of them. This resistance makes treating a patient with the infection more difficult to the point where some strands require surgery. Tuberculosis is not a bacterium that you can easily remove from the body though. It takes time and medication for the tuberculosis to be eradicated from the body. The problem is with the advancements of medicine bacterium, like tuberculosis, are starting to produce resistance to not just one or two drugs here or there, but the bacteria is producing resistance for multiple drugs at one time.

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).