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An essay on tuberculosis
Background of tuberculosis
An essay on tuberculosis
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Introduction:
Tuberculosis is an infectious disease which causes millions of death in humans. In India approximately 500,000 deaths occurs now and then. TB is an air borne disease which is caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Apart from M. tuberculosis, there are many strains of Mycobacterial species like M. bovis , M .africanum , M. microti, M. caprae , M. pinnipedi i, M. canetti and M. mungi. Together these species are known to be M. tuberculosis complex. The main target of tuberculosis is the lungs (i.e. pulmonary tuberculosis) as well as other parts of the body (i.e. systemic tuberculosis). Most tuberculosis does not cause infection which is known as latent tuberculosis (i.e. they remain in inactive form). The spread of infection is due to active TB infection cough, sneeze, and fluid transmission or by aerosol in the air, and not by surface contact.
Pathogenesis of Tuberculosis:
1. The droplet nuclei containing tubercle bacilli are inhaled which enter the lungs, and travel to the alveoli.
2. These tubercle bacilli are engulfed by alveolar macrophages; the majority of these bacilli are destroyed or inhibited. The rest they multiply in the alveoli.
3. A small number of tubercle bacilli enter the bloodstream and spread throughout the body.
The tubercle bacilli may reach any part of the body including areas where TB disease is more
Likely to develop (e. g the brain, larynx, lymph node, lung, spine, bone, or kidney).
4. Within 2 to 8 weeks, special immune cells called macrophages ingest and surround the tubercle bacilli. The cells form a barrier shell, called a granuloma, that keeps the bacilli contained and under control (LTBI).
5. If the immune system cannot keep the tubercle bacilli under control, the bacilli begin...
... middle of paper ...
...uated strain of bovine tuberculosis bacillus and mycobacterium bovis that has lost its virulence.
Conclusion:
Tuberculosis is an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. This is an air borne disease which spreads if a person is infected by tuberculosis. The infected person release droplets of tubercle bacilli which are undertaken by the other person. These droplets of bacteria travel through respiratory tract and then invade the lungs where they multiply and survive. These M. tuberculosis inhibits the phagosome-lysosome fusion and also are resistant to oxidative killing and hence survives inside the macrophages. Various drugs have been developed for the treatment of tuberculosis disease. But for the MDR-TB and XDR-TB people are left with less effective drugs. BCG vaccine is given for the prevention and also to prevent from other complications.
Because B. pertussis is a gram-negative bacteria, it possesses the endotoxin lipopolysaccharide (LPS). However, its LPS is different from that of the other gram-negative bacteria, in that it is heterogeneous with an alternative form of the Lipid A, called Lipid X. Although not fully understood at the time, it seems that Lipid X has a greater capacity for virulence.
Healthy lung tissue is predominately soft, elastic connective tissue, designed to slide easily over the thorax with each breath. The lungs are covered with visceral pleura which glide fluidly over the parietal pleura of the thoracic cavity thanks to the serous secretion of pleural fluid (Marieb, 2006, p. 430). During inhalation, the lungs expand with air, similar to filling a balloon. The pliable latex of the balloon allows it to expand, just as the pliability of lungs and their components allows for expansion. During exhalation, the volume of air decrease causing a deflation, similar to letting air out of the balloon. However, unlike a balloon, the paired lungs are not filled with empty spaces; the bronchi enter the lungs and subdivide progressively smaller into bronchioles, a network of conducting passageways leading to the alveoli (Marieb, 2006, p. 433). Alveoli are small air sacs in the respiratory zone. The respiratory zone also consists of bronchioles and alveolar ducts, and is responsible for the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide (Marieb, 2006, p. 433).
If the pathogen can overcome the host defenses, the host will be damaged and may not survive. If, on the other hand, the host defenses overcome the pathogen, the microparasite may fail to establish itself within the host and die. The main objectives of the pathogen are to gain entry inside the host, once inside grow and reproduce, and avoid host defenses. There are three possible routes of infection: respiratory, inflammatory, and traumatic. The respiratory route is the easiest and most direct means of entry.
Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MT) is a slender, rod-shaped, aerobic bacillus which causes tuberculosis. Tuberculosis (TB) is an airborn infection which is transmitted via inhaling droplet nuclei circulating in the air. These droplets are expelled from the respiratory secretion of people who have active TB through coughing, sneezing, and talking (Porth, 2011). Some bacilli stay in the upper airway and are swept out by mucus-secreting goblet cells and cilia on the surface of the airway. Others will escape from this protective mechanism to travel and settle down at alveoli (Porth, 2011). Local inflammatory reaction occurs and macrophages are cells that act as next line defense mechanism to fight with mycobacteria. First they engulf micobacteria, try to reduce their strength and ability, and kill them. In the same way they send antigen to helper T lymphocytes to initiate a cell-mediated immune response (Knechel, 2009). The infected macrophages will send produced cytokines and enzymes to breakdown mycobacteria’s protein. It is the released cytokines that attract T ly...
Over some period of time, affected children (patients) experience mental impairment, worsening seizures, and progressive loss of sight and motor skills. Affected patients become totally disabled and eventually die.
Only the smallest particles of the coal dust make it past the nose, mouth, and throat into the alveoli found deep in the lungs. The alveoli, or air sacs, are responsible for exchanging gases with the blood, and are located at the end of each bronchiole. Microphages, a type of blood cell, gather foreign particles and carry them to where they can either be swallowed or coughed out. If too much dust is inhaled over a long period of time, some dust-laden microphages and particles collect permanently in the lungs causing black lung disease.
Hepatitis is the inflammation or swelling of the liver. The inflammation can happen from different injuries or viral forms of a disease. People who experience hepatitis have the symptoms of malaise, nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, fever and jaundice. There are six known forms of Hepatitis which are Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, Hepatitis D, Hepatitis E and Hepatitis G. The presence of hepatitis in the body can be very risky and cause severe death if not taken care of. Hepatitis is a severe issue that affect many people around the world like third world countries and cross contamination can occur mainly in health care places due to the exposure of patients with the disease and accidents handling blood or instruments, Hepatitis A,B,C,D,E and G are distinct diseases that differ in transmission and vaccines to prevent them or cure them.
TB germs enter the body, the immune system builds a wall around them. While TB
Tb is spread trough the air and respiration. So when a person breathes in the air around them then they may not knowingly breath in one of the tuberculosis drop lets through there nose. The disease can also spread through the clothing and anything that the contaminated person has touched. If a person were to touch the clothing of an infected person they will most likely get the disease because it is so highly contagious. Many of the main people who are infected by tuberculosis are people who may already have been infected by another disease because their immune system is so week that makes them a main target for tuberculosis. People who may have a high risk at getting TB should avoid areas that have been infected, vaccinate themselves, get regular skin tests, take antibiotics if they know they will be around tuberculosis.
Tuberculosis is transmitted from person to person through airborne droplets, when a person that is infected with TB coughs, sneezes, talks, and/or sings letting tiny droplet to be released into the air(Bare, Smeltzer, Hinkle, and Cheever, 2008). TB cannot be spread through touching inanimate objects, food, or drinks (Bare et al. 2008). The person must be in the same area an affected individual is in and inspirate the droplets to be affected. Once the bacillus is inspired into the lungs, the bacilli start to multiply causing lung inflammation also known as nonspecific pneumontis (Huether et al. 2008). To cause an immune response the bacilli will travel through lymphatic system and become lodged in the lymph nodes (Huether et al. 2008). Lung inflammation causes the activation of the alveolar macrophages and neutrophils (Huether et al. 2008). Granulomas, new tissue masses of live and dead bacilli, are surrounded by macrophages, which form a protective wall. They then transform into a fibrous tissue mass, the central portion is called a ghon tubercle (Bare et al. 2008). The bacterial then necrotic, forming a cheesy mass, this mass may become calcified and form a collagenous scar (Bare et al. 2008). At this point, the bacteria becomes dormant and there is no further progression of the active disease. The disease can become active again by re-infection or activation of the dormant bacteria (Bare et al. 2008).
When you breathe in, air containing carbon dioxide (CO2) and oxygen (O2) it moves down your trachea; a tunnel containing cartilage and smooth tissue. Air then travels through two hollow tubes called bronchi; narrow branches lined with smooth muscle, mucosal and ringed cartilage to support the structure. The bronchi divide out into smaller tunnels called bronchioles; are small branches 0.5-1mm, lined with muscular walls to help dilate and constrict the airway. At the end of the bronchioles are little air sacs called alveoli; which assist in gas exchange of O2 and CO2. (Eldridge, 2016) Towards the end of alveoli are small blood vessel capillaries. O2 is moved through the blood stream through theses small blood vessels (capillaries) at the end of the alveoli and the CO2 is then exhaled. (RolandMedically,
Tuberculosis is an air-borne disease, hence, it can be passed from an infected person to a healthy individual through coughing, sneezing and other salivary secretions. Tuberculosis is caused by the transfer of Mycobacteriun Tuberculosis (M. Tuberculosis) also known as Tubercle Bacillus, a small particle of 1-5 microns in diameter, due to the small size, when an infected person sneezes or coughs, about 3,000 particles are expelled. M. Tuberculosis responsible for tuberculosis is able to stay in the air for a long period of time (about 6hoursAnother way of acquiring Tuberculosis is by drinking unpasteurized milk, milk straight from cow, although this is not a common mode of transmission, it can be found in rural areas. Ingestion of contaminated cow milk transmits Mycobacterium Bovis, the animal form which is still potent enough to cause tuberculosis in humans. ). Tuberculosis transmission is affected by exposure, socioeconomic status of person, proximity, immune status of uninfected individual (%&&%&? CDC).
Malaria (also called biduoterian fever, blackwater fever, falciparum malaria, plasmodium, Quartan malaria, and tertian malaria) is one of the most infectious and most common diseases in the world. This serious, sometimes-fatal disease is caused by a parasite that is carried by a certain species of mosquito called the Anopheles. It claims more lives every year than any other transmissible disease except tuberculosis. Every year, five hundred million adults and children (around nine percent of the world’s population) contract the disease and of these, one hundred million people die. Children are more susceptible to the disease than adults, and in Africa, where ninety percent of the world’s cases occur and where eighty percent of the cases are treated at home, one in twenty children die of the disease before they reach the age of five. Pregnant women are also more vulnerable to disease and in certain parts of Africa, they are four times as likely to contract the disease and only half as likely to survive it.
Tuberculosis is transmitted by inhalation of aerosols containing the tubercle bacilli. The required inoculum size for infection is usually high, but easily occurs with exposure to a patient who is currently infected. The products of dried aerosols, droplet nuclei, are particularly infectious because they remain in the air for an extended time, and upon inhalation easily move to the alveoli. The severe damage related to infection is caused by the reaction of the host. The tuberculosis infection has two phases, primary and secondary.
Researchers have also identified a list of other factors associated with TB transmission such as environmental, organism and host factors, but these unfortunately, are outside the scope of the present paper. 16