According to WHO, a total of 1.5 million people have died from TB in 2018 alone. They claim that TB is one of the top 10 causes of death, and “the leading cause from a single infectious agent”.
Tuberculosis (TB) is caused by a bacterium called Mycobacterium Tuberculosis. TB is a lung infection that is spread through the air from infected individuals. People who are infected with TB can cough and sneeze, which will cause TB bacteria to enter the air, where others can be infected by inhaling that air. Signs and symptoms of TB includes a cough, chest pain, malaise, weight loss, fever, and most importantly sputum that contains blood. There are many tests that can test if you have TB, such as skin tests, blood tests, x-rays and others.
The CDC discusses risk factors associated with the infection. One thing that makes the infection so bad is that TB has a very common latent infection called LTBI or latent tuberculosis infection. Although LTBI cannot be spread to other people, it can develop into TB disease. People who are most susceptible to TB Disease are immunocompromised individuals, where the bacteria can actively multiply. Some examples of immunocompromised individuals susceptible to this infection according to MayoClinic, HIV/AIDS, diabetes , kidney disease, cancer or chemotherapy, malnutrition and people who take certain.
It’s very sad that people are dying from TB because it is treatable and preventable. Each year, WHO organizes a fundraiser on World Tuberculosis (TB) Day to “help raise public awareness about the devastating health, social and economic consequences of TB, and to step up efforts to end the global TB epidemic”. They also give a little information about how the day was selected. Dr. Robert Koch (Koch’s Postulates) discovered TB on this day. WHO also states that each day over 4000 people die to TB.
Personally, as a CNA and a volunteer at the hospital, I’ve been well aware of TB. Each year I go in for my TB skin test. However, it’s very obvious that many people are not as aware of the detrimental effects of TB, and how many people it kills. However there has been an increase in awareness through efforts such at the National TB Conference that is scheduled for May 27-29 of 2020. WHO has also created a World TB Day Online Talk Show that addresses the issues that’s available to the public. Even in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, the UN addresses WHO’s urgency to also be aware of the TB epidemic, and what we can do to stop it.
It’s truly inspiring to see national and international health organizations so concerned with this epidemic. It always seems that health providers try to warn us about health issues that could turn into real issues, and we the public ignore them until they are right on our front door steps. I just hope that people take what is being said by these organizations to heart. I hope people make themselves more aware of what’s going on in the world on the health front. If this coronavirus has taught us anything, organizations like WHO and the CDC are here to help us, not hurt us. Prevention is key!
Madison's Microbiology Masterpiece 