Communicable disease Health, Medicine, Nursing Term Paper

Tuberculosis
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Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) causes ill health in millions of people each year, and thus remains a major global health problem. It ranks among the top deadly infectious diseases. TB is primarily an airborne disease caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The bacteria are spread from one person to another through the air and mainly affects the lungs (pulmonary TB) but can have adverse effects on other body organs (extra-pulmonary TB). Extra-pulmonary TB can affect lymph nodes, kidneys, bones, and joints, among others. A person can contract the disease by inhaling bacteria-infested air expelled by people who a sick with pulmonary TB through coughs, sneezing, or spitting. The transmission risk depends on the concentration of the bacteria in the airspace, frequency and duration of exposure, and the virulence of the TB bacteria. Besides being a preventable and curable disease, the overall impact of Tuberculosis on public health is alarming.
* General Overview
It is estimated that about 2-3 billion people are exposed to the bacteria each year, but only a small fraction (5-15%) develop Tuberculosis throughout their lifetime. Anyone can contract the disease regardless of age (Duarte et al. 2018). The infected and asymptomatic are considered latent TB cases. They include those infected with TB bacteria but are not yet ill or active cases. A person with Latent Tuberculosis Infection (LTBI) have M. tuberculosis in their bodies, but do not have TB disease and cannot spread the infection to another person. Young children (below 5 years of age) and people with substantially impaired immunity such as people infected with HIV have a much higher probability of developing TB disease (Ozcaglar et al, 2012). Other groups at a higher risk for TB are people who were recently infected with M. tuberculosis, persons with a history of untreated or inadequately treated TB disease, persons with diabetes mellitus, and cigarette smokers, among others. TB disease is a progressive stage of LTBI that can occur anytime, from soon to many years.
Persons with latent TB have no signs or symptoms of the infection. Despite being infectious, active TB is usually accompanied by signs and symptoms. The clinical presentation of TB disease depends on the location of the infection within the body. In most cases, respiratory TB disease develops and its systemic signs and symptoms are drastic weight loss, night sweats, loss of appetite, fever, and fatigue (Ozcaglar et al. 2012). In addition to the systematic signs and symptoms, active respiratory TB disease may manifest itself via cough (dry or productive) for more than 2-3 weeks, shortness of breath, chest pain, and hemoptysis (blood-stained sputum). On the other hand, active non-respiratory TB disease has the systemic signs and symptoms as well as pain, swelling, and/or dysfunction of the involved body sites, usually signified by swollen lymph nodes (Glazioun et al. 2013) LTBI is detected via the Tuberculin Skin Test (TST). Active TB can develop rapidly when a person’s immune response is inadequate. Unlike in LTBI, persons with TB disease are infectious and may spread the bacteria to other people. TB disease is diagnosed by collecting bo...