Worldwide Tuberculosis is caused by M.bovis and M.africanum, in addition to M.tuberculosis. This is likely due to closer interactions between people and livestock, another host for the organisms. Transmissions to humans from susceptible animal species and their products like milk is also possible. It affects lungs and respiratory tract. With the advent of the AIDS epidemic, there has been a steady yearly increase in the number of global TB cases. In the United States, this disease mostly occurs among homeless, elderly and malnourished, or among alcoholic males, minorities and immigrants. The majority of active cases result from reactivation of old, dormant infections.
I. History of Mycobacterium tuberculosis
In the year 1882, Robert Koch identified Mycobacterium tuberculosis as the causative agent of tuberculosis (TB). According to Mandal, Mycobacterium tuberculosis existed about 15,000 to 20,000 years ago. It has also been proved that Europeans contributed a a very large extension in the spead of TB around the word (Jaeger et al., 2012). Tuberculosis reached its peak in 18th century and resulted in large number of deaths. At the time, TB was rampant, causing one-seventh of all cell deaths in Europe and one-third of deaths among productive young adults. Today TB remains a global health problem of enormous dimension. It has been reported by Centre for disease Control and Prevention that in the year 2011, about 1.4 million people died with TB all around the world and about 9 million people became sick with TB (CDC | TB | Data and Statistics").
II. Characteristics of Mycobacterium tuberculosis
A. Morphology
Mycobacterium belongs to phylum Actinobacteria and family Mycobacteriaceae. Mycobacteria are usually slightly curved or straig...
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...in 108 replications of Mtb. The likelihood of spontaneous mutations causing resistance to both isoniazid and rifampin is the product of these possibilities, or 1 in 1016. However, these biological mechanisms of resistance break down when chemotherapy is inadequate. In the circumstances of monotherapy, erratic drug injection, omission of one or more drugs, suboptimal dosage, poor drug absorption, or an insufficient number of active drugs in a regime, a susceptible strain of Mtb may become resistant to multiple drugs within a matter of months.
Instead of BCG, currently a vaccine is being developed which uses microbial vectors (Junqueira-Kipnis et al., 2013). Thus, the ongoing research in vaccines against TB will help to find this disease and to eliminate this disease.
Thus, rates of tuberculosis can be decreased by better public health measures and social condition.
Paul Farmer was born in Massachusetts in 1959, went to Harvard Medical School, became a doctor, and ended up living and working in Haiti. He co-founded an organization in 1987 called Partners in Health (PIH). The philosophy behind the organization is that everyone, no matter who or where has a right to health care. Paul Farmer and PIH have already made amazing progress in Haiti, Peru, and several other countries, helping people get the care they need. PIH’s website lists a detailed history of they and Farmer’s work in Haiti. When Paul Farmer first came to Cange, Haiti as a medical student in 1983, the place was in shambles. In 1956, a dam was built on the Artibonite River, flooding the village and forcing the residents to move up into the hills. Many of these displaced villagers were still essentially homeless after nearly thirty years, and had little access to quality health care. With the founding of the Zanmi Lasante clinic later in 1983, Farmer and his friend Ophelia Dahl set the people of Cange on the road to recovery by providing access to doctors, medicine, and emergency care, all completely free. (“Partners”) One of Farmer’s focuses was on tuberculosis (TB) and has had much success on this front. Through new studies and methods such as active case finding and community health workers, as well as his work with multidrug-resistant TB, Paul Farmer has revolutionized treatment of tuberculosis in Haiti and around the world.
Phenotypic methods of classifying microorganisms describe the diversity of bacterial species by naming and grouping organisms based on similarities. The differences between Bacteria, Archaea and Eukaryotes are basic. Bacteria can function and reproduce as single cells but often combine into multicellular colonies. Bacteria are also surrounded by a cell wall. Archaea differ from bacteria in their genetics and biochemistry. Their cell membranes are made with different material than bacteria. Just like bacteria, archaea are also single cell and are surrounded by a cell wall. Eukaryotes, unlike bacteria and archaea, contain a nucleus. And like bacteria and archaea, eukaryotes have a cell wall. The Gram stain is a system used to characterize bacteria based on the structural characteristics of their cell walls. A Gram-positive cell will stain purple if cell walls are thick and a Gram-negative cell wall appears pink. Most bacteria can be classified as belonging to one of four groups (Gram-positive cocci, Gram-positive bacilli, Gram-negative cocci, and Gram-negative bacilli) (Phenotypic analysis. (n.d.).
Bacteria play a large role in our health, the environment, and most aspects of life. They can be used in beneficial ways, such as decomposing wastes, enhancing fertilizer for crops, and breaking down of substances that our bodies cannot. However, many bacteria can also be very harmful by causing disease. Understanding how to identify bacteria has numerous applications and is incredibly important for anyone planning to enter the medical field or begin a career in research. Having the background knowledge of identifying an unknown bacteria may one day aid healthcare professionals diagnose their patient with a particular bacterial infection or help researchers determine various clinical, agricultural, and numerous other uses for bacteria.
The rail market continued to grow and by the 1860’s all major cities within the United States were connected by rail. The main diseases that showed the most virulence during the time were cholera, yellow fever and consumption, now known as tuberculosis. The 9th census mortality data showed that 1 out 7 deaths from disease were caused by tuberculosis and 1 out of 24 disease deaths were resulting from cholera. . Until the 1870s the general consensus of the spread of disease through population was still the primitive idea that it came from the individual and not specifically the pathogen.... ... middle of paper ... ...
Tuberculosis has many forms that can invade the body. Many cures involve drugs and multiple combinations of the drugs. Drugs are used in combinations because tuberculosis can travel to different parts of the body. One of the causes for the spread of tuberculosis around the world is the emergence drug- resistance strain. Tuberculosis can become resistant to most, if not all, of the drugs that are used to treat tuberculosis.
Although it has been noticed that there is a significant decrease in tuberculosis prevalence, the disease is still a major concern to public health in the United States. Poor life style can increase the risks of TB infection among poor community. Schmidt (2008) stated that TB has been linked anecdotally with environmental risk factors that go hand-in-hand with poverty: indoor air pollution, tobacco smoke, malnutrition, overcrowded living conditions, and excessive alcohol use (Schmidt,
The domain for Klebsiella is Bacteria, it is in the Proteobacteria phylum, Gammaproteobacteria class, Enterobacteriales is the Order, the family is Enterobacteriacaea, the Genus is Klebsiella, and finally the species is Klebsiella pneumonia.
Tuberculosis (TB) is the most common disease worldwide which caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. With close to 10 million new cases per year, and a pool of two billion latently infected individuals, control efforts are struggling in many parts of the world (The bacteria usually attack the lungs, but they can also damage other parts of the body (Comas and Gagneux, 2009). It is important for a nurse to understand how tuberculosis develops, how to diagnosis, treatment, and prevent.
Tuberculosis is an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, in which bacteria may invade many parts of the body, such as the brain, the kidneys, and the spine. Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a rod shaped, aerobic bacterium that is resistant to destruction and can persist in necrotic and calcified lesion for prolonged periods and remain capable of reinstating growth (Porth, 2011). However, the most common target is the lungs (Wouk, 2010). The Tuberculosis bacteria severely damage the lungs that it is difficult for a person to breathe. According to Wouk, there are two main types of Tuberculosis. The first type is latent, which means a person carries the tuberculosis germ, but he or she is not sick and can not pass the germ on to the other person, and the other type is active tuberculosis.
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).
Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a nonmotile, acid-fast, obligate aerobe. The bacilli are 2-4 um in length and have a very slow generation time of between 15 and 20 hours. The cell wall of the mycobacterium is unique in that it is composed mainly of acidic waxes, specifically mycolic acids. M. tuberculosis is unusually resistant to drying and chemicals, contributing to the ease with which it is transmitted.
Tuberculosis is an infection caused by Mycobacterium Tuberculosis, an acid-fast Gram-positive bacillus, and “is characterized by progressive necrosis of the lung tissue” (Tamaro & Lewis, 2005). Tuberculosis is caused by many debilitating conditions like immunosuppression and chronic lung disease, among others. Nevertheless, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the virus that causes acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), remains the leading cause of tuberculosis worldwide. Tuberculosis can present in one of two types: active tuberculosis and latent tuberculosis. Prompt treatment prevents latent tuberculosis from evolving into active tuberculosis. (“Basic TB Facts,” 2012).
Wines, M. 2007. Virulent TB in South Africa may imperil millions. New York Time. January 8. Accessed online at http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/28/world/africa/28tuberculosis.html?pagewanted=all
Throughout human history, disease has been linked to many facets of life and even the rise and fall of entire civilizations. Biological, social, political and economic forces have all influenced how the outbreak of disease is handled. Epidemics have altered history in how they have developed and the impact that they have had. In turn, epidemic management has been influenced by history and governments as humans have learned to cope with outbreaks and the social and political implications that result from them. Today, biomedical engineers, politicians, historians and social scientists are leading the battle in an attempt to understand and combat infectious diseases.
There are several ways to prevent tuberculosis. One is to control existing infections from those infected including people, pets, and cows. Unfortunately, more than 1/3 of the population has tuberculosis, making it hard to contain every case of tuberculosis. The BCG vaccine exists, but it is not very useful in countries like the US. The body’s defenses against tuberculosis are effective but fail once the immune system becomes suppressed. Antibiotics can be used to help prevent tuberculosis, but tuberculosis quickly grows resistant to antibiotics. Much needed research is being done to find a way to fight off and prevent tuberculosis.