Tuberculosis (TB) is a disease caused by germs that are spread from person to person through the air. TB usually affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body, such as the brain, the kidneys, or the spine. A person with TB can die if they do not get treatment.
Background. Fear of TB infection is rooted in historical and social memories of the disease, marked by stigma, segregation and exclusion.
Many people who have latent TB infection never develop TB disease. In these people, the TB bacteria remain inactive for a lifetime without causing disease. But in other people, especially people who have a weak immune system, the bacteria become active, multiply, and cause TB disease.
About one quarter of the world's population is infected with tuberculosis (TB) bacteria. Only a small proportion of those infected will become sick with TB. People with weakened immune systems have a much greater risk of falling ill from TB. A person living with HIV is about 20 times more likely to develop active TB.
The bacteria usually attack the lungs, but TB bacteria can attack any part of the body such as the kidney, spine, and brain. Not everyone infected with TB bacteria becomes sick. As a result, two TB-related conditions exist: latent TB infection (LTBI) and TB disease. If not treated properly, TB disease can be fatal.
Up to 13 million people in the U.S. have a latent TB infection, and without treatment, they are at risk for developing full-blown TB, a bacteria that usually attacks the lungs but can also damage other parts of the body. TB is a top infectious disease killer worldwide.
Poverty is a powerful determinant of tuberculosis. Crowded and poorly ventilated living and working environments often associated with poverty constitute direct risk factors for tuberculosis transmission.
In the 1700s, TB was called “the white plague” due to the paleness of the patients. TB was commonly called “consumption” in the 1800s even after Schonlein named it tuberculosis. During this time, TB was also called the “Captain of all these men of death.”
tuberculosis was originated in East Africa about 3 million years ago. A growing pool of evidence suggests that the current strains of M. tuberculosis is originated from a common ancestor around 20,000 – 15,000 years ago.
Tuberculosis (TB) and COVID-19 are both infectious diseases that attack primarily the lungs. Both diseases have similar symptoms such as cough, fever and difficulty breathing. TB, however, has a longer incubation period with a slower onset of disease.
The condition is spread when a person with an active TB infection in their lungs coughs or sneezes and someone else inhales the expelled droplets, which contain TB bacteria. Although it is spread in a similar way to a cold or the flu, TB is not as contagious.
Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) is a vaccine for tuberculosis (TB) disease. This vaccine is not widely used in the United States. However, it is often given to infants and small children in other countries where TB is common.
MTB can exhibit genetic resistance that is heritable and fixed, as well as phenotypic, reversible resistance to administered antibiotics. The presence of genetic drug resistance in some or all of the infecting bacteria dictates the need for multidrug therapy [2,4].
TB disease in the lungs or throat can be infectious. This means that the bacteria can spread to other people. TB in other parts of the body, such as the kidney or spine, is usually not infectious. People with TB disease are most likely to spread it to people they spend time with every day.
TB is a natural disease of humans.
A Brief History Of TB
Although TB-related mortality rates have mostly gone down a lot in the 21st century, a diagnosis of tuberculosis was considered as good as a death sentence in the ancient and medieval ages.
There was no reliable treatment for tuberculosis. Some physicians prescribed bleedings and purgings, but most often, doctors simply advised their patients to rest, eat well, and exercise outdoors. [1] Very few recovered.
Despite the notoriety of the bubonic plague, its death toll is relatively small compared to tuberculosis (TB) – a bacterial infection that affects the lungs. To this day, TB has been responsible for the deaths of one billion people, a number that makes it the second biggest global killer in history after malaria.
Summary. Tuberculosis has claimed its victims throughout much of known human history. It reached epidemic proportions in Europe and North America during the 18th and 19th centuries, earning the sobriquet, “Captain Among these Men of Death.” Then it began to decline.
In the 1920s and 1930s, following trends in Germany and America, collapse therapy was a popular method of treating pulmonary tuberculosis in Britain. The intention was to collapse the infected lung, allowing it to rest and heal.
TB is a contagious disease with effective treatment. Various lifestyle changes such as a healthy diet, avoiding smoking and drinking alcohol, and taking medications on time help manage TB.
In India, pollution is widespread throughout the country. Pollution causes many effects in the air that people breathe, and since TB can be passed from person to person through the air, the chances of catching TB remain high in many parts of India.
The increased risk of infection with TB germs is due to several factors, including substance use, HIV infection, and the homeless shelter environment such as crowding and the state of the ventilation system. This combination of factors is favorable for spreading TB.