Tuberculosis

What is Tuberculosis?

"Tuberculosis (TB) is a potentially serious infectious disease that mainly affects your lungs." The bacteria that cause tuberculosis are spread from one person to another through air via coughs and sneezes.

Tuberculosis infections began increasing in 1985. As HIV increased, it also weakened a person's immune system, so it could not fight against the TB germs. Tuberculosis began to decrease in 1993 by the health program in the United States, but it still remains a concern as a health issue.

Many kinds of tuberculosis are now resistant to drugs mostly used in early days. "People with active tuberculosis must take several types of medications for many months to eradicate the infection and prevent development of antibiotic resistance."

What is a cause of Tuberculosis?

"Tuberculosis is caused by bacteria that spread from person to person through microscopic droplets released into the air. This can happen when someone with the untreated, active form of tuberculosis coughs, speaks, sneezes, spits, laughs or sings."

Even though Tuberculosis is contagious, it's not easy to be infected. Most people with active TB these days take appropriate treatments, and within at least two weeks, the disease is no longer contagious.

HIV and TB
"Since the 1980s, the number of cases of tuberculosis has increased dramatically because of the spread of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Tuberculosis and HIV have a deadly relationship — each drives the progress of the other."

Infection with HIV weakens the patient's immune system, making it difficult for the body to eradicate TB bacteria. Therefore, TB patients with HIV are more likely to get active TB, and even more susceptible other diseases.

Drug-resistant TB
"Another reason tuberculosis remains a major killer is the increase in drug-resistant strains of the bacterium." Since the first antibiotics were used to treat tuberculosis 60 years ago, some TB germs have developed resistance over them, passing their ability to their descendants.

"Drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis emerge when an antibiotic fails to kill all of the bacteria it targets. The surviving bacteria become resistant to that particular drug and frequently other antibiotics as well." Therefore, it is important to eradicate the bacteria when infected.

What are symptoms of Tuberculosis?

There are two different prescriptions given by doctors based on a patient's immune system and activation of Tuberculosis :

• Latent TB : You have a TB infection, but the bacteria remain in your body in an inactive state and cause no symptoms.This inactive TB isn't contagious. However, it can turn into active TB, so treatment is important for the patient with latent TB and to help control the spread of TB in general. An estimated one-third of the world's population has latent TB.
• Active TB : This condition makes you sick and can spread to others. It can occur in the first few weeks after infection with the TB bacteria, or it might occur years later.

Signs and symptoms of active TB include:

• Cough
• Unintentional weight loss
• Fatigue
• Fever
• Night sweats
• Chills
• Loss of appetite

Tuberculosis usually attacks your lungs. Signs and symptoms of TB of the lungs include:

• Coughing that lasts three or more weeks
• Coughing up blood or sputum
• Chest pain, or pain with breathing or coughing

"Tuberculosis can also affect other parts of your body, including your kidneys, spine or brain. When TB occurs outside your lungs, signs and symptoms vary according to the organs involved."

What are treatments of Tuberculosis?

• Isoniazid
• Rifampin (Rifadin, Rimactane)
• Ethambutol (Myambutol)
• Pyrazinamide

(There's some evidence that taking vitamin D during tuberculosis treatment enhances some of the effects of the drugs.)

Side effects of TB drugs are not common but can be serious if they occur. All tuberculosis medications can be highly toxic to your liver. Here are some side effects listed:

• Nausea or vomiting
• Loss of appetite
• A yellow color to your skin (jaundice)
• Dark urine
• A fever that lasts three or more days and has no obvious cause

How do you prevent from getting infected?

These are actions you should do when you catch active TB:

• Stay home : Don't go to work or school or sleep in a room with other people during the first few weeks of treatment for active tuberculosis.
• Ventilate the room : Tuberculosis germs spread more easily in small closed spaces where air doesn't move. Try to open the windows and use a fan to get a fresh air.
• Wear a mask or cover your mouth : Wearing a surgical mask when you're around other people during the first three weeks of treatment may help lessen the risk of transmission. Also, whenever you cough or sneeze, use a tissue to cover your mouth. The tissue should be thrown away.

Finish your entire course of medication
When you stop treatment early or skip doses, TB bacteria have a chance to develop mutations that allow them to survive from the treatment you have. The resulting drug-resistant strains are much more deadly and difficult to treat. Taking different treatment due to a mutation may be harmful to your health.

Vaccinations
In countries where tuberculosis is more common, infants often are vaccinated with bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine because it can prevent severe tuberculosis in children. However, this vaccine is not effective among adults, so the vaccine is not preferable in America. Researchers are working on developing a more effective TB vaccine.

Work Cited

Staff, Mayo Clinic. "Definition." Mayo Clinic. Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 26 Jan. 2013. Web. 15 May 2013.

Images Cited
http://museumvictoria.com.au/collections/items/265776/poster-please-don-t-spit-victorian-tuberculosis-association-circa-1950s
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/06/06/154448297/drug-resistant-tuberculosis-a-serious-epidemic-in-china
http://www.americanhealthjournal.com/blog/what-is-tuberculosis