Multidrug Resistant Tuberculosis Research Paper
Multidrug Resistant Tuberculosis (MDR TB)
TB has plagued the world since the beginning of cattle domestication in 4000bc. The man and beast interaction allowed M. bovis (mad cow disease) to develop properties allowing for survival within their new hosts. This new class of bacteria was deemed. The evolution of the TB causing bacteria did not stop there. The newest mutation of this bacterium is MDR TB, or multidrug resistant tuberculosis. The three main causes that have allowed TB to progressively develop into this multidrug resistant strain are progression, transmission, and over-population.
One cause of MDR Tuberculosis is its progression due to unawareness and the overwhelming number infections in third world countries. M. tuberculosis is an …show more content…
airborne bacterium that is highly contagious. The onset is the latent stage (LTB), which some live their entire life unaware because LTB never progressed. However, it can develop into the active disease (ATB) and for some even leads to MDR-TB, causing agony in epidemic proportions. MDR TB is not only incurable, but also untreatable. Latent TB infections are difficult to diagnose. I.O. Al-Orainey explains that, “Latent tuberculosis infection is a subclinical infection with M. tuberculosis without clinical, bacteriological, or radiological evidence of the disease.” (2009). The mass numbers of uninformed infected people are allowing for the progression of MDR TB and the spread of TB in general. However, not all societies have the availability of an appropriate facility with the needed personal protective equipment or the needed drugs for sufficient therapy. “In order to protect other patients and health workers in the hospital, isolation of such patients is part of good quality care,” noted by The WHO Stop TB Department (2012). Without access to the meticulous provisions and the patients’ incomplete attempts to finish therapy, MDR TB has become more prominent, in numbers and in strength.
Another cause of multidrug resistant tuberculosis is its transmission.
Transmission occurs primarily from non-compliance of the drug-therapy and inaccessibility of proper air-borne isolation techniques. Correctly quarantining a known infected patient is imperative, particularly until the strain of TB has been determined as well as until treatment has been launched. To clarify how MDR TB is inadvertently transmitted WHO explains, “Treatment for MDR TB involves drug therapy over many months or years. Despite the longer course of treatment the cure rate decreases from over 90 percent for nonresistant strains of TB to 50 percent or less for MDR TB.” (2012). Laid out by the American Lung Association (2013), “A strain of MDR TB originally develops when a case of drug-susceptible tuberculosis is improperly or incompletely treated. This occurs when a physician does not prescribe proper treatment regimens or when a patient is unable to adhere to therapy. Improper treatment allows individual TB bacilli that have natural resistance to a drug to multiply.” When a patient has no signs or symptoms of latent tuberculosis, the consequences may be life threatening, not only to the patient, but also to all the people that are around
them.
A third cause of MDR TB is the overpopulation and lack of pre-screening. MDR tuberculosis is common in high-density populations such as prisons, inner cities, healthcare facilities, and shelters. Not only are these common places for tuberculosis, but they also tend to be abundant with co-infected habitants who have contracted other epidemic diseases, like HIV and Hepatitis C. “TB poses a unique challenge today in correctional environments as inmate populations increase and overcrowding makes an outbreak of TB a serious threat,” pointed out by The Center for Disease Control (2012). Tuberculin skin tests are the only pre-screening diagnostics available for TB. Additionally, these tests remain provided simply to the high-risk groups of people such as healthcare workers, HIV patients, and other immunosuppressant individuals. “CDC discourages use of diagnostic tests for LTB among individuals and populations at low risk for infection with M. tuberculosis,” specified by The Division of Tuberculosis Elimination; they add that, “The presence of TB disease must be excluded before treatment for LTB is initiated, because failure to do so may result in inadequate treatment and development of drug resistance.” (2012). Due to the fact that initial infection shows no signs and produces no symptoms, often times diseased people contribute to the virulence of the MDR TB before their knowledge of self-contamination. Furthermore, the overcrowding amplifies TB’s progression.
Humanizing the population directly affected with TB in mass numbers may help prevent the misuse of treatment, which would eventually put an end to MDR TB, as far as the prevention of new, more profound forms being synthesized. Instruction and direction is of utmost importance. Those who are ill informed or do not know where to turn to for support are jeopardizing their selves and each person amongst them. The consequences of transmission, progression, and over-population have developed into an inadvertently, self-made multidrug resistant superbug.
References
American Lung Association. (2013). Multidrug-Resistance Tuberculosis (MDR TB) Fact Sheet.
Retrieved 7/11/2013 from http://www.lung.org/lung-disease/tuberculosis/factsheets/multidrug-resistant.html
Cann, A., Dr. (updated 2013). MycrobiologyBytes video library. Retrieved 7/11/2013 from http://www.microbiologybytes.com/video/Mtuberculosis.htm.
Division of Tuberculosis Elimination. (2012). LTBI- Diagnosis of latent TB infection. Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved on 7/11/2013 from http://www.cdc.gov/tb/publications/ltbi/diagnosis.htm?mobile=nocontent.
Division of Tuberculosis Elimination. (2012). Self study module 8: TB in correctional facilities. Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved on 7/11/2013 from http://www.cdc.gov/tb/education/ssmodules/module8/ss8reading2.htm?mobile=nocontent
The WHO Stop TB Department. (2012). Frequently asked questions—XDR-TB. Retrieved on 7/11/2013 from http://www.who.int/tb/challenges/xdr/faqs/en/.
TB has plagued the world since the beginning of cattle domestication in 4000bc. The man and beast interaction allowed M. bovis (mad cow disease) to develop properties allowing for survival within their new hosts. This new class of bacteria was deemed. The evolution of the TB causing bacteria did not stop there. The newest mutation of this bacterium is MDR TB, or multidrug resistant tuberculosis. The three main causes that have allowed TB to progressively develop into this multidrug resistant strain are progression, transmission, and over-population.
One cause of MDR Tuberculosis is its progression due to unawareness and the overwhelming number infections in third world countries. M. tuberculosis is an …show more content…
airborne bacterium that is highly contagious. The onset is the latent stage (LTB), which some live their entire life unaware because LTB never progressed. However, it can develop into the active disease (ATB) and for some even leads to MDR-TB, causing agony in epidemic proportions. MDR TB is not only incurable, but also untreatable. Latent TB infections are difficult to diagnose. I.O. Al-Orainey explains that, “Latent tuberculosis infection is a subclinical infection with M. tuberculosis without clinical, bacteriological, or radiological evidence of the disease.” (2009). The mass numbers of uninformed infected people are allowing for the progression of MDR TB and the spread of TB in general. However, not all societies have the availability of an appropriate facility with the needed personal protective equipment or the needed drugs for sufficient therapy. “In order to protect other patients and health workers in the hospital, isolation of such patients is part of good quality care,” noted by The WHO Stop TB Department (2012). Without access to the meticulous provisions and the patients’ incomplete attempts to finish therapy, MDR TB has become more prominent, in numbers and in strength.
Another cause of multidrug resistant tuberculosis is its transmission.
Transmission occurs primarily from non-compliance of the drug-therapy and inaccessibility of proper air-borne isolation techniques. Correctly quarantining a known infected patient is imperative, particularly until the strain of TB has been determined as well as until treatment has been launched. To clarify how MDR TB is inadvertently transmitted WHO explains, “Treatment for MDR TB involves drug therapy over many months or years. Despite the longer course of treatment the cure rate decreases from over 90 percent for nonresistant strains of TB to 50 percent or less for MDR TB.” (2012). Laid out by the American Lung Association (2013), “A strain of MDR TB originally develops when a case of drug-susceptible tuberculosis is improperly or incompletely treated. This occurs when a physician does not prescribe proper treatment regimens or when a patient is unable to adhere to therapy. Improper treatment allows individual TB bacilli that have natural resistance to a drug to multiply.” When a patient has no signs or symptoms of latent tuberculosis, the consequences may be life threatening, not only to the patient, but also to all the people that are around
them.
A third cause of MDR TB is the overpopulation and lack of pre-screening. MDR tuberculosis is common in high-density populations such as prisons, inner cities, healthcare facilities, and shelters. Not only are these common places for tuberculosis, but they also tend to be abundant with co-infected habitants who have contracted other epidemic diseases, like HIV and Hepatitis C. “TB poses a unique challenge today in correctional environments as inmate populations increase and overcrowding makes an outbreak of TB a serious threat,” pointed out by The Center for Disease Control (2012). Tuberculin skin tests are the only pre-screening diagnostics available for TB. Additionally, these tests remain provided simply to the high-risk groups of people such as healthcare workers, HIV patients, and other immunosuppressant individuals. “CDC discourages use of diagnostic tests for LTB among individuals and populations at low risk for infection with M. tuberculosis,” specified by The Division of Tuberculosis Elimination; they add that, “The presence of TB disease must be excluded before treatment for LTB is initiated, because failure to do so may result in inadequate treatment and development of drug resistance.” (2012). Due to the fact that initial infection shows no signs and produces no symptoms, often times diseased people contribute to the virulence of the MDR TB before their knowledge of self-contamination. Furthermore, the overcrowding amplifies TB’s progression.
Humanizing the population directly affected with TB in mass numbers may help prevent the misuse of treatment, which would eventually put an end to MDR TB, as far as the prevention of new, more profound forms being synthesized. Instruction and direction is of utmost importance. Those who are ill informed or do not know where to turn to for support are jeopardizing their selves and each person amongst them. The consequences of transmission, progression, and over-population have developed into an inadvertently, self-made multidrug resistant superbug.
References
American Lung Association. (2013). Multidrug-Resistance Tuberculosis (MDR TB) Fact Sheet.
Retrieved 7/11/2013 from http://www.lung.org/lung-disease/tuberculosis/factsheets/multidrug-resistant.html
Cann, A., Dr. (updated 2013). MycrobiologyBytes video library. Retrieved 7/11/2013 from http://www.microbiologybytes.com/video/Mtuberculosis.htm.
Division of Tuberculosis Elimination. (2012). LTBI- Diagnosis of latent TB infection. Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved on 7/11/2013 from http://www.cdc.gov/tb/publications/ltbi/diagnosis.htm?mobile=nocontent.
Division of Tuberculosis Elimination. (2012). Self study module 8: TB in correctional facilities. Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved on 7/11/2013 from http://www.cdc.gov/tb/education/ssmodules/module8/ss8reading2.htm?mobile=nocontent
The WHO Stop TB Department. (2012). Frequently asked questions—XDR-TB. Retrieved on 7/11/2013 from http://www.who.int/tb/challenges/xdr/faqs/en/.