Janise Marvin

Collin Callahan
Alisha McDonal
Tuberculosis Paper
Health Period 3
May 10, 2009

Tuberculosis: A Succinct Synopsis

Air. It is everywhere. You breathe the oxygen found in the air.

Guess what else you breathe in from the air? Deadly pathogens.

Tuberculosis is the disease caused by one of such pathogens. About

one-third of the world’s population is infected with the Tuberculosis

bacillus. It is found in every region of the world, but is most prevalent

in South-East Asia, with an estimated 4,809,000 cases in 2005,

followed with Africa in a close second with 3,773,000 cases. An

approximate 1.6 million people died worldwide from Tuberculosis in

2005 (World Health Organization, 2007). By the time you are finished

reading this paper, you will know how to keep yourself from becoming

one of these statistics.

Tuberculosis, commonly known as TB, is caused by the

bacterium Mycobacterium Tuberculosis. There are two types of TB: TB

infection and TB disease, or active TB. Most people who are infected

with TB never get the active kind, because their immune system is

able to keep the bacteria from becoming active. The infected

individuals have no symptoms and cannot spread the disease, while if

the TB is active, they experience symptoms and are contagious

(Directors of Health Promotion and Education, undated). Common

symptoms of Tuberculosis include coughing up blood or sputum, chest

pain, weakness or tiredness, weight loss, chills, fever, and night

sweats. If the disease continues to multiply, it can incur lasting

complications such as lung damage, lung weakening, damage to other

vital organs and death. Anyone can get TB, seeing as it is transferred

through the air. It only takes inhaling a couple of the Mycobacterium

Tuberculosis bacterium to become infected (eMedicineHealth, 2009).

The good news is that it is very treatable and preventable.

Once an individual acquires active TB, there are two different

courses of treatment that could be prescribed. If the bacterium is the

normal form of Tuberculosis, it is possible to purge the body of the

pathogen by means of a combination of several different medications.

The different medicines, which include isoniazid and rifampin, together

help fight the bacteria. This medicine must be taken for 6-9 months

because the bacteria die very slowly. If the TB form is drug resistant,

known as MDR-TB, then it is possible to use stronger antibiotics with

serious side effects or chemotherapy to rid the body of the bacteria.

This drug resistant form emerges when patients do not stick to the

strict regimen of their medications. Extensive Drug Resistant TB, XDR-

TB, is a less common form and is even more drug resistant than MDR-

TB. It is possible to prevent oneself from becoming infected with TB.

You can take a daily dose of isoniazid to kill any possible germs that

could help TB flourish inside your body if it was to enter

(eMedicineHealth, 2009). This can ensure that if you do come in

contact with TB, you have a much lower chance of becoming infected.

There is also a vaccine called, BCG Bacille Calmette Guerin, that can

lower the chances of getting TB, but it interferes with the PPC skin test

to see if TB is present, so it is not the best solution. In countries where

TB is common, it is administered to infants to help prevent the spread,

but is not recommended in the US. As long as the TB is caught and

treated for the full duration of the prescription, almost everybody can

be cured. Without treatment, three out of every five patients will die

(National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, 2009). The main

way to prevent this is to cure everyone possible who has TB, so that it

cannot spread to other people.

Tuberculosis used to be a very common, very deadly disease.

Today it is still pretty common, but with proper treatment, is no longer

deadly. Even though it is spread by the air, it is possible to prevent

infection by such simple procedures such as covering your mouth

when you cough or sneeze and by washing hands often. With programs

put in place by organizations such as the World Health Organization,

Tuberculosis is planned to be eradicated by the year 2015.

 Bibliography

Schiffman, George. "Tuberculosis." EMedicineHealth. 15 Jan. 2009. 8

May 2009

<http://www.emedicinehealth.com/tuberculosis/article_em.htm>.

"Tuberculosis." World Health Organization. Mar. 2007. 9 May 2009

<http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs104/en/>.

"Tuberculosis." Directors of Health Promotion and Education. 8 May

2009 <http://www.dhpe.org/infect/tb.html>.

"Understanding Tuberculosis." National Institute of Allergy and

Infectious Disease. 9 Mar. 2009. National Institutes of Health. 9

May 2009

<http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/topics/tuberculosis/Understanding/>.