Page 34 - 2024 - Q3 - Minerva in Focus

MINERVA IN FOCUS Health Matters

Tuberculosis:

A persistent global

health challenge

Source: Unsplash/CDC

However, tuberculosis is a complicated Exposed individuals should consult their
illness to understand, describe and diag- primary care physician and will usually be
nose, mainly because there is often con- advised to undergo an initial Mantoux (skin)
fusion between transmission and disease, test or blood test, along with a chest X-ray.
as well as latent and active tuberculosis. Tuberculosis is closely linked to social de-
Latent tuberculosis is exposure to the My- terminants. As per the World Health Organ-
by Dr Maria Moschou, cobacterium tuberculosis without manifes- isation (WHO), “Poverty alleviation reduces
Internist, tation of the disease itself. the risk of tuberculosis transmission and
Med Solutions Exposure to an individual with tuberculosis the risk of progression from infection to
International does not necessarily mean that all those who disease”. Individuals living and working in
come into contact with the bacterium will poorly ventilated and overcrowded areas
manifest symptoms of the disease. Individu- and individuals who are malnourished are
als with inactive tuberculosis do not present at a much higher risk of developing active
symptoms, do not feel ill, and cannot spread tuberculosis. Additionally, HIV infection,
the bacterium to other individuals. smoking, and alcohol abuse may also in-
An individual with latent tuberculosis may crease the risk of active disease.
On 24 March 1882, have the bacterium their entire lives without Recently, there has been a rise in drug-re-
sistant TB cases. According to the Centres
exhibiting manifestations of the disease.
Dr Robert Koch However, in some cases, the bacterium for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),
announced the can become active and multiply, leading drug-resistant TB disease can occur when
discovery of the to active illness. the medicines used to treat TB are misused
The incubation timeframes for tuberculo-
or mismanaged.
Mycobacterium sis are not very specific as the time from Examples of misuse or mismanagement
tuberculosis, the transmission to active illness ranges be- include:
bacterium that causes tween two weeks and two years. On rare • People not completing a full
tuberculosis (TB). occasions, we may see active tuberculosis course of treatment for TB
beyond the two-year mark.
disease
Symptoms of active tuberculosis include • Health care providers prescrib-
coughing, haemoptysis (coughing up ing the wrong treatment for
At that time, TB killed one out of every blood), persistent fever, weight loss, chest TB disease (incorrect dose or
seven people in Europe and the US. It is pain, loss of appetite, chills, night sweats, length of time)
believed that the bacterium has existed for and swollen lymph nodes. Given that TB • Medicines for proper treatment
approximately three million years. can manifest in organs other than the lungs of TB disease not being avail-
Tuberculosis has been called “phthisis” (extrapulmonary tuberculosis), symptoms able
since Ancient Greece, “The White Death”, may vary between individuals. Diagnostic • TB medicines being
“Consumption”, and “Captain of all these testing is necessary for prompt and accu- of poor quality
men of Death”. rate diagnosis. As with any illness, individuals must consult
In the past, there were many myths and Active tuberculosis is usually detected their physician if TB exposure is suspected
assumptions revolving around the disease, through a chest X-ray (cavitation). When and comply with all instructions provided.
but today we know that tuberculosis is an active TB is suspected, it can be diagnosed Eradicating tuberculosis remains a glob-
airborne infectious disease that is spread by isolating Mycobacterium tuberculosis al public health goal which has yet to be
when a person with active TB speaks, sings, complex bacilli from bronchial secretions, achieved, even though the disease has
or coughs. often through a bronchoscopy. been with us for centuries.

34 ISSUE 29 / Q3 2024