Cars

Tuberculosis TB is among the top 10 infectious diseases in the world ranking at the top three spot along with malaria and HIVAIDS Tuberculosis causes nearly 2 million deaths every year and the World Health Organization WHO estimates that nearly 1 b
Tuberculosis TB is among the top 10 infectious diseases in the world ranking at the top three spot along with malaria and HIVAIDS Tuberculosis causes nearly 2 million deaths every year and the World Health Organization WHO estimates that nearly 1 billion people will be infected between 2000 and 2020 if more effective preventive procedures are not adopted

What is Tuberculosis TB
TB is a systemic bacterial infection most often found in the lungs It is mainly caused by mycobacterium tuberculosis Other mycobacteria such as Mycobacterium bovis Mycobacterium africanum Mycobacterium canetti and Mycobacterium microti can also cause tuberculosis but these species do not usually affect healthy adults Over onethird of the worlds population has been exposed to the TB bacterium and new infections occur at a rate of one per second It doesnt necessarily happen that a person infected develops the fullblown disease so asymptomatic latent TB infection is most common However one in ten latent infections will progress to active TB disease which if left untreated kills more than half of its victims

TB is generally classified into pulmonary and extrapulmonary tuberculosis In pulmonary TB the bacterial infection is found in the lungs This is the most reported case of TB infection This bacterial infection is highly contagious as it is spread through the air droplets We can get infected just by breathing in air contaminated with droplets from an infected persons cough or sneeze The primary stage of pulmonary TB is usually asymptomatic In some cases the disease becomes active in a matter of weeks after the primary infection For some it may lie dormant for a number of years and then reappear Reported symptoms include minor cough and mild fever fatigue unintentional weight loss coughing up blood night sweating phlegmproducing cough wheezing chest pain and breathing difficulty The risk of contracting tuberculosis increases if you are in frequent contact with an infected person or have poor living conditions

Extrapulmonary TB as the name implies affects other organs aside from the lungs This can occur in isolation or may come along as a complication from pulmonary TB Extrapulmonary TB may also affect the following body parts

Lymph nodes
Pleura the membrane that protects the lungs
Bones
Kidneys
Male female genital tract
Stomach
Peritoneum the membrane lining part of the abdominal cavity
Skin
Brain

Although the bacterial infection is generically transmitted via droplets from the cough of a person with pulmonary TB it may spread to any organ or body system through our blood And like pulmonary TB symptoms rarely appear at the early onset of this condition

Treatment
TB treatment uses antibiotics to kills the bacteria But unlike the generic use of antibiotics it takes a longer period of usage to completely eliminate the mycobacteria from the body However people may develop drug resistant tuberculosis bacteria when given inadequate treatment For people with latent infections medications are still used but this time it is to prevent the disease from further progressing

Prevention is ten times better than having the cure Protect your children early by having them vaccinated against tuberculosis If you have friends relatives or family members that are suspected to have TB consult a doctor as early as possible to have it treated It will not only eliminate the chances of the disease progressing it will also lower risks of getting yourself infected by this dreaded disease