Causative Agent of TB

Causative Agent of TB

Introduction

Tuberculosis is a common disease caused by the invasion of bacteria in certain organs of the body such as kidneys, brain and spinal regions. The most effected organ in TB is lungs. It damages the lungs to such an extent that the person might face difficulties in breathing. It is a chronic granulomatous disease. It is a serious illness that is curable with proper treatment only (Wouk H, 2009). There are mainly two classifications of Tuberculosis: 1. Latent TB, which can be explained in terms of latent phase in which the patient carries the TB bacterium but it is not afflicted by TB and cannot even pass the bacterium to other people. 2. Active TB, in which the person having the TB bacterium is affected by TB and can also pass the disease to other people.

Causative Agent of TB

TB is an abbreviated form of Tubercle Bacilli, which is the name of the organism responsible for causing this disease. However, it is the second most deadly disease in the world and the most common disease in UK but is curable (Wouk H., 2009). Mycobacterium Tuberculosis (which includes M. tuberculosis, M. Bovis and M. Africanum) spreads by the inhalation of air borne infected droplet. These infectious droplets can stay in the environment for relatively longer periods of time arise as a result of infectious patient's cough.

When a TB afflicted patient sneezes or coughs he/she exhales out millions of TB bacterium sufficient enough to cause TB to a person who inhales the germ loaded air, hence TB is a contagious disease. Mycobacterium TB when enters into the body goes into the lungs, spreads and invades the lung tissues and soon the symptoms of TB start to appear. Destroying the lung tissues weakens the person ability to take in oxygen and as a result, person feels difficulty in breathing (Wouk H, 2009). Prolong exposure of a person with someone effected with this contagious disease will eventually lead to TB; therefore preventive measures should be taken to avoid the exposure of TB patients with other people.

Our immune system is designed to prevent the TB bacterium from spreading into the lungs; however, it cannot kill the Mycobacterium (Latent phase of TB). In any case of the immune system failure, the bacterium can spread up to the lungs and may trigger TB within a few weeks or months (Active phase of TB). Sometimes even latent TB can become fatal if the immune system gets hampered and may develop into an active phase (NHS, 2012).

Population at Risk

Tuberculosis is a serious health problem which is getting widespread with the passage of time. As reported by WHO, there will be billion new infections by the year of 2020. Mostly women and children get targeted by TB, and the prevalence factor among them is about 900,000,000 and 250,000 respectively. Women and children are susceptible subject and can easily contract this infectious disease from their environment. TB is most common in third world countries ...