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According to the Journal of Clinical Medicine and Therapeutics (2019), a disease is communicable if it is spread from an infected individual to another individual through such ways as contact with contaminated bodily fluids like saliva, blood, or semen; inhaling contaminated air; or getting bitten by disease-carrying organisms like mosquitoes. The explication following herein describes tuberculosis as an infectious disease including details such as the disease’s incidence in the World and in Cobb County, GA, agent characteristics, environmental characteristics, signs and symptoms, treatment, and how to educate the public about the disease.
According to World Health Organization (WHO, 2018), tuberculosis is amongst the top ten leading causes of mortality worldwide. Data from the same source indicate that in 2017, 10 million persons in the world had TB, 1.6 million of whom died as a result. According to the 2017 Georgia Tuberculosis Report by the Georgia Department of Public Health (2018), there were 293 new TB cases in Georgia in 2017. From the same report, there were 15 new TB cases in Cobb County in 2017.
Tuberculosis is one of the antiquated and deadliest illnesses of humankind, as yet representing noteworthy health, social, and monetary weight at a worldwide dimension. According to Turner et al. (2013), the infectious agent for TB in an infected human host is Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) which is one bacterium species amongst Mycobacterium tuberculosis Complex (MTBC) species. The TB reservoirs are humans, other mammals, and voles. The respiratory tract forms the exit routes for the TB-causing bacteria. Individuals with tuberculosis in their lungs generally have a tenacious cough; Mycobacterium tuberculosis utilizes this as its course of exit The Mycobacterium tuberculosis suspended in the air enters a susceptible host through airborne transmission. The respiratory tract of the new or responsive host forms the route of entry for TB in this host.
The particular impacts changes in seasons have on Pulmonary TB are not altogether clear since a few examinations have established that incidence tops in winter, spring, and summer (Alvaro-Meca, Diaz, de Miguel Diez, Resino, & Resino, 2016). PTB risk is sophisticated because of the vast number of components to think about, for example, environmental variables (temperature, sunlight, and humidity), social elements (crowding and individual-to-individual contact), and the delays in the finding and treatment of TB (Alvaro-Meca et al., 2016). These components appear to influence both primary infection and reoccurrence, though to a higher degree on the former.
According to the World Health Organization (2018), the symptoms of TB in persons with active TB illness are fever, a persistent cough with sputum and/or blood, weight loss, chest pains, and night sweats. Initially, these signs may be mild for months, and they can manifest in an individual as multiple symptoms or just as singular symptoms. This observation is the likely reason for the delay in seeking treatment, diagnosis, and treatment of TB.
Active TB that is susceptible to drugs is treated with a standard half-year course of four antimicrobial medications furnished with information, supervision, and moral help to the patient by a health practitioner or volunteer. Without such help, adhering to the treatment can be troublesome, and the illness can spread. The first-line treatment drug options for TB are isoniazid (INH), ethambutol (EMB), and rifampin (RIF) (Georgia Department of Public Health, 2018). By far, most TB cases can get cured when medications are given and taken appropriately.
Conclusion
The impact of information and knowledge on changing an individual’s habits is very much perceived; specifically, expanding TB learning has been related to healthy behaviors and increasingly good results for TB patients (Howley et al., 2015). Medical undergrads, through health education programs for students of medicine and public health, can lead health-related Behavioral Change Communication (BCC) in their schools during their Community Medicine morning posting (CMMP). I would use the CMMP platform to sensitize the public about TB. I would demystify TB myths and facts, tell the patients the dos and the don’ts of TB, make patient follow up, and sensitize the patients on the need to adhere to treatment plans and complete TB dosages prescribed to them.
References
- Álvaro-Meca, A., Díaz, A., de Miguel Díez, J., Resino, R., & Resino, S. (2016). Environmental Factors Related to Pulmonary Tuberculosis in HIV-Infected Patients in the Combined Antiretroviral Therapy (cART) Era. PLOS ONE, 11(11), e0165944. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0165944
- Georgia Department of Public Health. (2018). 2017 Georgia Tuberculosis Report (pp. 1-36). Atlanta, GA: Georgia Department of Public Health. Web.
- Howley, M., Rouse, C., Katz, D., Colson, P., Hirsch-Moverman, Y., Royce, R., & Tuberculosis Epidemiologic Studies Consortium. (2015). Knowledge and Attitudes about Tuberculosis among U.S.-Born Blacks and Whites with Tuberculosis. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 17(5), 1487-1495. doi: 10.1007/s10903-014-0105-9
- Journal of Clinical Medicine and Therapeutics. (2019, June 8). Communicable Disease | List of High Impact Articles | PPts | Journals | Videos.
- Turner, R., Chiu, C., Churchyard, G., Esmail, H., Lewinsohn, D., Gandhi, N., & Fennelly, K. (2017). Tuberculosis Infectiousness and Host Susceptibility. The Journal of Infectious Diseases, 216(suppl_6), S636-S643. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jix361
- World Health Organization. (2018). Tuberculosis (TB). Web.