5 shocking facts about tuberculosis
Tuberculosis is seen as an “ancient disease” that the world has evolved beyond. However, this is not actually the case. In third-world countries, tuberculosis is still a part of day-to-day life due to poor living conditions and a lack of education.
So that we can continue to fight this deadly disease, get in the know and read the following ten facts about tuberculosis you may not have known.
Fact #1 Many of us carry latent TB foci inside of our lungs
About one third of the world’s population is infected with tuberculosis bacteria. However, only a small proportion of those infected will become sick with TB – five to 10 per cent to be exact. We all are exposed to the organism early on in life and would have formed foci of infection in the lungs (primary TB). Our immune system would have contained the infection and prevented us from suffering from the disease. It is when our immune system becomes weak for some reason, or is overwhelmed by the infection or any other cause, that we suffer the disease – also known as reactivation. The organisms can travel from the foci of infection in the lungs to other sites leading to secondary infection – TB of lymph nodes, spine and so on.
Fact#2 People are still suffering
In 2014, 9.6 million people fell ill with TB, with one million suffers being children. 140,000 children died out of a total of 1.5 million people that died (including 0.4 million people with HIV). In fact, TB ranks alongside HIV as a leading cause of death worldwide. About 95 per cent of TB deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries and it is among the top five causes of death among women aged 15 to 44. Fortunately, the number of people falling ill with TB is declining and the TB death rate dropped 47 per cent between 1990 and 2015 worldwide.
Fact #3 Tuberculosis is completely treatable
If the full course of medication is taken properly and regular follow-ups with a doctor are followed, TB can be completely cured. The main drugs used for TB are Isoniazid, Rifampicin, Pyrazinamide, Ethambutol and Streptomycin.
Fact #4: Its highly contagious
Tuberculosis spreads through the air when a person with an active TB infection coughs, sneezes, speaks or sings. Germs can stay in the air for hours.
Fact #5 The numbers
- TB kills more youth and adults than any other infectious disease
- Someone get sick from TB every four seconds
- Someone dies from TB every 10 seconds
Last May, at the World Health Assembly, governments agreed on ambitious new 20-year (2016-2035) strategy to end the global TB epidemic.
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