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Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, [7] is a contagious disease usually caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) bacteria. [1] Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs , but it can also affect other parts of the body. [ 1 ]
Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tb), also known as Koch's bacillus, is a species of pathogenic bacteria in the family Mycobacteriaceae and the causative agent of tuberculosis. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] First discovered in 1882 by Robert Koch , M. tuberculosis has an unusual, waxy coating on its cell surface primarily due to the presence of mycolic acid .
Other parts of the medical history include prior TB exposure, infection or disease and medical conditions that increase risk for TB disease such as HIV infection. Depending on the sort of patient population surveyed, as few as 20%, or as many as 75% of pulmonary tuberculosis cases may be without symptoms. [2]
TB exposure No evidence of infection: History of exposure Negative reaction to tuberculin skin test 2: TB infection No disease: Positive reaction to tuberculin skin test Negative bacteriologic studies (if done) No clinical, bacteriologic, or radiographic evidence of TB 3: TB, clinically active: M. tuberculosis cultured (if done)
Persons with HIV and latent tuberculosis have a 10% chance of developing active tuberculosis every year. "HIV infection is the greatest known risk factor for the progression of latent M. tuberculosis infection to active TB. In many African countries, 30–60% of all new TB cases occur in people with HIV, and TB is the leading cause of death ...
Treatment of latent TB infection typically involves using a single drug for a prolonged period of time—the most common approach is Isoniazid for 9 months. Treatment of active TB disease is typically a combination of antibiotics, which results in patients being non-infectious to others usually within a few weeks.
TB kills more than one million people each year, according to the World Health Organisation. Blood test could identify millions of people spreading tuberculosis unknowingly Skip to main content
It is clear that the spread of this strain of TB is closely associated with a high prevalence of HIV and poor infection control; in other countries where XDR-TB strains have arisen, drug-resistance has arisen from mismanagement of cases or poor patient compliance with drug treatment instead of being transmitted from person to person. [87]