26/06/2014
WHAT IS TUBERCULOSIS?
(Get FREE TB DRUGS at St. Andrew's Hospital, Warri)
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease that is caused by a bacterium called Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
TB primarily affects the lungs, but it can also affect organs in the central nervous system, lymphatic system, and circulatory system among others.
This Medical News Today information article provides details on what tuberculosis is, the causes of tuberculosis, its symptoms, how the disease is diagnosed, who gets TB, potential treatment options, and how TB can be prevented.
What is tuberculosis?
The disease was called "consumption" in the past because of the way it would consume infected people from within.
When a person becomes infected with TB, the bacteria in the lungs multiply causing pneumonia; the patient experiences chest pain and has a persistent cough which often brings up blood.
In addition, lymph nodes near the heart and lungs become enlarged. As the bacteria try to spread to other parts of the body they are interrupted by the body's immune system.
The immune system forms scar tissue or fibrosis around the bacterium, which helps fight the infection and prevents it from spreading within the body and to other people.
If the bacteria manage to break through the scar tissue the disease returns to an active state; pneumonia develops and there is damage to kidneys, bones, and the meninges that line the spinal cord and brain.
TB is generally classified as being either latent or active.
Latent TB - the bacteria are inactive but present in the body. The patient has no symptoms and is not contagious.
Active TB - the bacteria are active and make the patient ill. Active TB is contagious.
TB is a major cause of illness and death worldwide, especially in Africa and Asia. Each year the disease kills almost 2 million people. The disease is also prevalent among people with HIV/AIDS.
Global tuberculosis campaign threatened by multi-drug resistance
Tuberculosis-prevalence-WHO-2009
Estimated prevalence of tuberculosis per 100,000
people in 2007, per country.
In October 2012, Dr. Mario Raviglione, Director of the WHO Stop TB Department, warned that the number of people becoming infected with MDT-TB (multi-drug-resistant) tuberculosis has risen considerably. He added that too few patients are being diagnosed and treated.
The global campaign to reduce TB infections by half by 2015 could be seriously jeopardized by MDT-TB.
We are now at a crossroads, Dr. Raviglione emphasized - either we eradicate TB in our lifetime, or the disease becomes increasingly resistant, harder to treat, and gains ground.
In March 2013 WHO, warned about a serious funding shortage. Dr. Margaret Chan, Director-General of WHO announced that without expanded treatment and funding, the global fight against TB will be seriously undermined.
Dr. Chang said "We are treading water at a time when we desperately need to scale up our response to MDR-TB. We have gained a lot of ground in TB control through international collaboration, but it can easily be lost if we do not act now."
What causes tuberculosis?
Tuberculosis is ultimately caused by the Mycobacterium tuberculosis, a bacterium that is spread from person to person through airborne particles. Inhaling infected particles does not necessarily mean that a person becomes infected.
One of three things may happen when Mycobacterium tuberculosis enters the human body:
The bacterium is destroyed because the body has a strong immune system.
The bacterium enters the body and remains as latent TB infection. The patient has no symptoms and cannot transmit it to other people.
The patient becomes ill with TB.
What are the signs symptoms of tuberculosis?
Most people who become infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis do not present symptoms of the disease.
However, when symptoms are present, they include:
unexplained weight loss
fatigue
shortness of breath
fever
night sweats
chills
loss of appetite.
Symptoms specific to the lungs include:
coughing that lasts for 3 or more weeks
coughing up blood
chest pain
painful breathing
pain when coughing.
(Link: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/8856.php)
