Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis is caused by an organism caused Mycobacterium tuberculosis. They grow very slowly and are very hard to kill due to their resistance against drying, disinfectants, and strong acids. This is actually one of the most interesting organisms I have studied because it actually can live and grow inside macrophages. Macrophages? What? A macrophage is a type of white blood cell in your body that eat bad bacteria and viruses in your body. Their purpose is to protect your body from infection. But if Mycobacterium tuberculosis can grow inside macrophages, the cells trying to kill harmful organisms in your body, that leads to a big problem.

Tuberculosis affects your lungs, but sometimes the disease is latent, meaning that a person does not experience any signs or symptoms. And that’s the scary part. You get this disease from coming in contact with another person who has Tuberculosis. If that person isn’t showing signs and symptoms, they can be spreading the infection all over the place! Unfortunately, this disease has high mortality and morbidity rates throughout our world today. It is a treatable disease, however it is killing people mostly in low to middle income countries, those who are immunocompromised, the elderly, those in crowded living situations, and those with HIV. We need to find a way to better help those infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis due to the fact that it is killing millions of people.  

As you probably know, March 24 was World Tuberculosis Day! The goal of this day to raise awareness of how Tuberculosis is a major disease affecting thousands of people each day. The main proposal of World TB Day is that it is time to end this disease. There are many recommendations to prevent and control the spread of the Tuberculosis such as environmental controls and administration measures. But, the World Health Organization has issued only oral treatment to treat those with active Tuberculosis. The actions that the healthcare world is taking will hopefully eliminate this fatal disease. Stay safe!