The bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis is responsible for causing TB.
Most infections do not have symptoms; this is known as latent tuberculosis.
About 10% of latent infections progress to active disease, which if left
untreated kills about half of those infected.
Active tuberculosis is when an infected person has symptoms. Whereas active
TB can be contagious, latent tuberculosis is not. It is therefore not possible
to get TB from someone with latent tuberculosis.
Approximately 10% of people with latent TB will go on to develop active
tuberculosis. This is particularly true, and there is added risk, in particular
situations such as medication that suppresses the immune system or advancing
age.
Active infection occurs more often in people with HIV/AIDS and in those who
smoke.
What are the symptoms of tuberculosis?
General signs and symptoms include:
· Fever,
· Chills,
· Night sweats,
· Loss of appetite,
· Weight loss, and
· Fatigue.
Night sweat is not
the sweat that occurs when you are in a hot room at night. It occurs during
sleep, and it is very obvious that something is wrong because other persons in
the room may not be sweating that much. This sweat is described as being more
than the normal required to maintain body temperature.
What can increase your risk for tuberculosis?
A number of factors make people more susceptible to TB infections. The most
important risk factor globally is HIV.
Tuberculosis is closely linked to both overcrowding and malnutrition,
making it one of the principal diseases of poverty. These people are at
particularly increased risk:
·
People who inject
illicit drugs (high risk for HIV).
·
Inhabitants and
employees of locales where vulnerable people gather (e.g. prisons and homeless
shelters),
·
Medically underprivileged
and resource-poor communities, high-risk ethnic minorities,
·
Children who are in
close contact with high-risk category people (the immune system of children is
not well developed)
·
Health-care providers
serving these patients.
Chronic lung disease is another significant risk factor. Those who smoke cigarettes
have nearly twice the risk of TB compared to nonsmokers.
Alcoholism and diabetes mellitus can also increase the risk of developing
tuberculosis.
Certain medications, such as corticosteroids depress the immune system, and
are becoming increasingly important risk factors, especially in the developed
world.
The roles of the genes you inherit have not been well defined.
POWERFUL GUIDE TO TUBERCULOSIS PREVENTION
Transmission of tuberculosis occurs when people with active TB cough,
sneeze, sing or laugh and release the TB particles into the air; in a poorly
ventilated room, the particles could remain suspended in the air for hours. A single sneeze can release up to 40,000
droplets. Each one of these droplets may transmit the disease, since the
infectious dose of tuberculosis is very small (the inhalation of fewer than 10
bacteria may cause an infection).
People with prolonged, frequent, or close contact with people with TB are
at particularly high risk of becoming infected. A person with active but
untreated tuberculosis may infect 10–15 (or more) other people per year.
The immunity of the
uninfected person, the amount of TB droplets, the air circulation and how long
the uninfected person is exposed to the bacteria, determines infection.
The currently used
Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine was developed in 1921 and remains the
only available vaccine against TB. Unfortunately, BCG is only partially
effective: it is unreliable against adult pulmonary TB and it is not possible
to ‘boost’ the protection offered by initial BCG vaccination with a subsequent
BCG shot later in life. As at May 2015, sixteen different TB vaccine candidates
were in clinical trials.
The World Health Organization, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and US
government are subsidizing a fast-acting tuberculosis test for use in developing
countries. The test can determine if there is resistance to the antibiotic
rifampicin (used for treatment of TB) which may indicate multi-drug resistant
TB and is accurate in those who are also infected with HIV.
The Mantoux test is
used to determine exposure to TB. The protein is injected between the layers of the skin (dermis) and read 48 to 72 hours
later. A person who has been exposed to the bacteria is expected to mount an
immune response in the skin containing the bacterial proteins. The reaction is
read by measuring the diameter of the raised/hardened area across the forearm. The
healthcare provider interprets your result depending on certain factors like
your risk for TB.
TB diagnosis and treatment in Nigeria is provided free of charge.
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