Epidemiology Paper: Tuberculosis
Richard Doria
Grand Canyon University
NRS-427V
October 5, 2014
Epidemiology Paper: Tuberculosis “Tuberculosis (TB), a multisystem disease with myriad presentations and manifestations, is the most common cause of infectious disease–related mortality worldwide. Although TB rates are decreasing in the United States, the disease is becoming more common in many parts of the world. In addition, the prevalence of drug-resistant TB is increasing worldwide. TB is caused by M tuberculosis, a slow-growing obligate aerobe and a facultative intracellular parasite. The organism grows in parallel groups called cords (as seen in the image below). It retains many stains after discoloration with acid-alcohol, which is the basis of the acid-fast stains used for pathologic identification. Humans are the only known reservoir for M tuberculosis. The organism is spread primarily as an airborne aerosol from an individual who is in the infectious stage of TB (although transdermal and GI transmission have been reported). Classic clinical features associated with active pulmonary TB are as follows: cough, weight loss/anorexia, fever, night sweats, hemoptysis, chest pain, and fatigue. For initial empiric treatment of TB, patients are started on a 4-drug regimen: isoniazid, rifampin, pyrazinamide, and either ethambutol or streptomycin. Once the TB isolate is known to be fully susceptible, ethambutol (or streptomycin, if it is used as a fourth drug) can be discontinued” (Herchline, 2014). “Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the world’s deadliest diseases: 1) One third of the world’s population is infected with TB, 2) In 2012, nearly 9 million people around the world became sick with TB disease. There were around 1.3 million TB-related deaths worldwide, 3) TB is a leading killer of people who are HIV infected. A total of 9,582 TB cases (a rate of 3.0 cases per 100,000 persons) were reported in the United
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