Tuberculosis: A Disease of the Past Presents New Fears
Physical - Body
A new study done at Montreal’s McGill University has renewed concerns about the disease Tuberculosis (TB). The study has found that the TB vaccine is not suitable to fight the disease anymore.
The main ingredient in all TB vaccines is the genome of bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG), which has mutated considerably since it was first used in 1921. Dr. Marcel Behr (McGill researcher) states that the organism may have lost its protective features through evolution.Health Canada has acknowledged that a drug-resistant TB is harder and more expensive to cure. TB that is resistant to the two best “first-line” antibiotics is called multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB). When MDR-TB becomes resistant to the best “second line” antibiotics, it is called extensively drug resistant TB (XDR-TB). XDR-TB has recently been diagnosed in 27 countries, including Toronto (Malcolm, 2007).
Often considered a disease of the past by the majority of Canadians, Tuberculosis (TB) still claims two million lives worldwide every year (Health Canada, 2007) and is responsible for 26% of preventable adult deaths (Katalinic-Jankovic & Obrovac, 2004). TB has been found to be highly prevalent in Africa, where more than 500,000 people are affected each year.
In Canada, approximately 1,600 new cases of TB are reported every year. Of these, Toronto alone sees about 375 cases of active TB per year, mainly among new immigrants (Hall, 2007).
What is Tuberculosis?
More frequently referred to as TB, Tuberculosis is an infectious disease caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium. The most common form of the disease is TB of the lungs, but TB can occur in the kidneys, urinary tract, lymph nodes and bones too.
The most common symptoms of TB are chest pain, bad cough lasting for more than three weeks, coughing up blood or sputum, weight loss, chills, weakness, fatigue, appetite loss, fever and night sweats.
How is TB spread?
Tuberculosis bacteria are airborne, and therefore, the infection can be passed through coughing, sneezing, singing or even talking. However, it is very important to note that one can get infected by TB bacteria only after an unprotected exposure to someone with active TB for extended period of time (i.e., several hours at a stretch). Actions such as shaking hands, sitting on toilet seats, or sharing dishes used by TB infected people will not pass on the TB infection.
TB infection vs. TB disease
There is a difference between a TB infection and the disease itself. When TB bacteria enter a person, it can cause TB. However, a strong immune system can fight and kill the TB germs stopping the infection from taking place.
Sometimes, the immune system is not strong enough to kill the bacteria, but keeps them under control. In this case, TB germs remain alive, but inactive, in the body; this is known as a TB infection . TB infected people neither show any symptoms nor pose any risk of spreading the bacteria.
In cases where the immune system cannot kill or control the TB bacteria, it grows, and visible symptoms start showing up marking the beginning of TB, the disease .
Risk factors
Some factors that can increase the chances of contracting TB are:
• HIV/AIDS. Tuberculosis is known to be the leading killer among HIV positive individuals worldwide. More than one-third (40 million) people with HIV/AIDS are co-infected with TB. TB also increases the progression of HIV infection, and shortens the life expectancy of the individual (Malcolm, 2007).
• Weak immune system
• Close contact with individuals with active TB
• History of active TB
• Living in aboriginal communities with high rates of TB infection or disease
• Being poor or homeless
• Being a long-term resident of a correctional facility
• About 10% of TB infected people develop the TB disease at some point in their lives.
The risk of developing TB is highest in the first two years of being infected.
Global trouble, global approach
With today’s prevalence of global travel, it does not take long for diseases to spread across geographical boundaries. This makes many feel that the presence of TB anywhere in the world should not be taken lightly. Measures of educating people of new strains and drugs should be taken. For instance, people across the globe should be alerted about the emergence of XDR-TB.
Because of the growing worldwide concern about the ineffectiveness of TB vaccines, and the emergence of new drug resistant forms of TB, action needs to be taken to tackle the predicament. Although the World Health Organization declared TB as an emergency in 2005 (Malcolm, 2007), there is still a crucial need for individual countries to take further action.
A step has been taken to fight TB globally. The Global Plan to Stop TB has been devised to treat 50 million people and save 14 million lives by 2015.
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