Why is tuberculosis (TB) important? The disease is important because it is the number two killer worldwide as a single infectious agent. About one-third of the world has TB that has not progressed to the point of becoming infectious to others. This is a big health concern, but even more of a problem due to its prevalence in low- to middle-income countries, which account for over 95 percent of TB deaths.
A book called "Infections and Inequalities: The Modern Plagues" says, “We live in a world where infections pass easily across borders—social and geographic—while resources, including cumulative scientific knowledge, are blocked at customs.” The book is a good read for someone interested in the inequality of healthcare relating to tuberculosis and HIV. Part of the problem with tuberculosis is the process of discovering if an individual is affected. Many of us do not know much about the disease, or the fact that we may need to get a shot to check if we have TB, then later return for the test results.
Mycobacterium tuberculosis can be transmitted through a person’s breath when infected in their lungs. However, giving someone a handshake or coming in contact with his or her saliva does not pass it.
TB is an infection until it becomes active, at which point it is called TB disease. The disease can become active at any time or never at all and only during its active time can it be transmitted, although people who have HIV, malnutrition, or diabetes as well as people who use tobacco have a higher likelihood of progressing from tuberculosis infection to tuberculosis disease.
Once TB becomes active, a person may have symptoms of a bad cough for three weeks or longer, pain in the chest, coughing up blood or sputum, weakness or fatigue, weight loss, no appetite, chills, fever, and/or sweating at night
Luckily, there are cures for TB, and it is treatable. The medicine needs to be taken properly in order to cure the disease and could take up to six months. Unfortunately, there is now a multidrug-resistant form of tuberculosis. The one form of drug-resistant Tuberculosis requires second-line TB drugs. These cost more than the first-line TB drugs, making it more difficult to obtain for countries in need of it. There is another form called XDR-TB that responds to fewer medications, therefore driving up the cost for treatment.
Tuberculosis can kill entire families due to the ease of transmission when in close proximity. The disease is treatable. The problem is that it does not affect America as much as other large countries, making it a silent killer. Silence is key because it does not pop up in our newspapers as Ebola did or scare us but is a threat and infects and takes many lives daily. Hopefully this article shed a minuscule amount of light on this disease. My hope is that it cracked a door to knowledge, and that you will open that door and see what is behind.
