Tuberculosis Diagnosis and Treatment Options (Essay Sample)

Tuberculosis Diagnosis and Treatment Options

Introduction
Tuberculosis is an infection that attacks the lungs. It is also known as TB. It can spread to other body parts like the brain or the spine if not detected and treated early. Tuberculosis can be fatal if not treated. Tuberculosis is a Latin word that means one that sticks out. Tuberculosis is caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis CITATION Cen \l 1033 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). A TB infection does not necessarily mean one is sick. One can develop either Latent TB infection (LTBI) or the TB disease. Roughly 1.7 billion people were infected by TB bacteria in 2013 CITATION Cen \l 1033 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). 1.7 billion People amounts up to 23% of the world population in 2017 CITATION Cen \l 1033 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). In 2020, 1.5 million people died from TB, the second biggest number after Covid-19 deaths. TB is the 13th infectious disease causing of death in the world CITATION Wor211 \l 1033 (World Health Organization, 2021). World Health Organization, 2021 data illustrates that “In 2020, an estimated 10 million people fell ill with tuberculosis (TB) worldwide. 5.6 million men, 3.3 million women and 1.1 million children. TB is present in all countries and age groups.” Tuberculosis prevalence has been declining by up to 2% every year, with data between 2015 and 2020 indicating a drop of 11% CITATION Wor211 \l 1033 (World Health Organization, 2021). Tuberculosis occurs in all countries, race, gender and ages. TB does not respect borders and spreads from one person to the other. Drug resistant TB is growing in scale and might double the deaths caused by it within a span of five years if not countered appropriately CITATION Cen \l 1033 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).
Cause
Tuberculosis is caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis that attacks the lungs. It can cause damage to other body organs like the kidneys, spine and the liver. It is transferred from one person to another through air. It attacks everybody within its range and does not discriminate against age or genetics. It is spread from one person to harbors the disease to another through sneezes and coughs. Inhalation of coughed droplets leads to contraction of TB CITATION NHS19 \l 1033 (NHS.UK, 2019). Children or older adults with TB outside of the lungs cannot infect others. Tuberculosis is less infectious compared to colds or flus, and require one to be near infected person(s) for an extended period of time CITATION NHS19 \l 1033 (NHS.UK, 2019).