Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis

  • Submitted By: afankhauser
  • Date Submitted: 07/07/2008 7:13 AM
  • Category: Science
  • Words: 914
  • Page: 4
  • Views: 2

Tuberculosis (TB) is a life – threatening infection that primarily affects the lungs. But, tuberculosis bacteria can attack any part of the body such as the kidneys, spine, and brain.
Every year, tuberculosis kills nearly 2 million people worldwide. The infection is common, about one third of the human population is infected with tuberculosis, with one new infection occurring every second.
Tuberculosis spreads through airborne droplets when a person with the infection coughs, talks, or sneezes. In general, someone needs prolonged exposure to an infected person before becoming infected themselves. Even then, they may not develop symptoms of the disease, or symptoms may not show up until many years later.
However, not everyone infected with tuberculosis bacteria becomes sick. People who are not sick have what is called latent tuberculosis infection. Those who have latent infection do not feel sick, do not have any symptoms, and cannot spread Tuberculosis to others. But some people with latent tuberculosis infection go on to get tuberculosis disease.
People with active tuberculosis disease can be treated if they seek medical help. Even better, most people with latent tuberculosis infection can take medicine so that they will not develop active tuberculosis disease.
When the topics came about for this presentation, of course this wasn’t on the top of my list. I decided to do my presentation on Tuberculosis because I have never really researched this disease. I didn’t really know anything about it except that you are to be tested for it; it seems like at the times of new employment.
During my research of Tuberculosis I found out that this is a very deadly disease that kills millions of people every year, and that there are thousands if not millions of people that are infected with this disease and probably don’t even know it.
Tuberculosis is caused by the infectious agent known as Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). This bacterium is small and slow-growing...

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