Notes On Tuberculosis

Biology Research Assignment Task:

Infectious disease - Tuberculosis 1(a)

Cause

• Tuberculosis is caused by a virulent strain of mycobacteria, called Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Transmission

• Spread from person to person through microscopic airborne particles of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis, which causes tuberculosis when inhaled into the lungs of another individual. It can also be spread via the contaminated secretions of an infected individual eg. via a cough, sneeze or talking

• Although even if a person does inhale particles of tuberculosis does not necessarily mean that the person will contract Tuberculosis

Host response

• If Mycobacterium tuberculosis does enter the human body, one of three things may happen:

• The initial host response (T-cell mediated response) may result in the immune system effectively fighting and destroying the invaded cells

• However, if the individual is immunosuppressed, the immune response may not be significant and may be unable to clear the disease. In this case, progression to a more severe form of Tuberculosis may occur (progressive primary tuberculosis)

• Tuberculosis is a chronic illness. Latent lesions may remain dormant in the host and become reactivated later in life. Until the dormant lesion becomes reactivated, the individual will show no symptoms and will be unable to transmit the disease to other people.

Major symptoms

• Latent tuberculosis condition causes no symptoms as the bacteria remains in the patients body in an inactive state.

• Active tuberculosis requires treatment in order to prevent the disease from spreading and address the patient’s symptoms. Signs and symptoms for active tuberculosis include:

• Coughing

• Unexpected weight loss

• Fatigue

• Low grade Fever

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... disease meaning it is passed on from child to parent, the gene is passed on through a pattern of inheritance called autosomal recessive inheritance meaning that both parent must pass on their defective form of the gene for the child to be affected. If only one parent passes on the gene to the child then that child will not have the disease but would be a carrier of sickle cell anaemia.

Diagram on how Sickle Cell Anaemia can be passed on:

Treatment:

The treatment for sickle cell anaemia can be divided into four different categories: Preventive measures, Symptom relief, Stimulation of fetal haemoglobin production, and Gene replacement therapy

1.Preventative Measures: Appropriate measure should be taken to reduce blockage in blood vessels caused by sickle shaped blood cells which leading to a reduced amount of oxygen in the body and possible damage to organs.