PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF TUBERCULOSIS

 

  PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF TUBERCULOSIS

      Definition of Tuberculosis

•   Tuberculosis (TB)is a chronic infectious diseases caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
• Some times called Acid Fast Bacilli(AFB) as they resist the decolonization with Acid or alcohol

     Transmission tuberculosis 

•   Tuberculosis is spread from infectious patient to another person by air
•  This occurs when a patient with open pulmonary tuberculosis coughs, sneezing or talking they produce TB droplets in the air
•  The most important source of infectious is an individual with active pulmonary tuberculosis.

   Predisposing Factors for Tuberculosis
Factors that contribute to an individual acquiring TB infection include:

•  Duration of infectiousness.

                o Untreated pulmonary tuberculosis can infect many people

•  Bacteriologic status of the source

               o Smear positive are more infectious.

•   Decrease of body immunity

             o other conditions including HIV infection, Diabetes mellitus, cancers and prolonged use of  antibiotics can lower body immunity

 Common Signs and Symptoms of Tuberculosis

•   Signs and symptoms of tuberculosis include:

                     o Productive cough for more than 2weeks
                     o Low grade fever
                     o Excessive night sweats
                     o weight loss
                     o Blood stained sputum
                     o Enlargement of the lymph nodes
                     o Difficulty in breathing
                     o Severe loss of weight
                     o Symptoms of other organs involvement

  Prevention of Tuberculosis

TB prevention consists of several main parts.

Stopping the transmission of TB from one adult to another

Firstly there is a need to stop the transmission of TB from one adult to another.
This is done through firstly, identifying people with active TB, and then curing them through the provision of drug treatment. With proper TB treatment someone with TB will very quickly not be infectious and so can no longer spread TB to others.
If someone is not on treatment, then precautions such as cough etiquette, must be taken to prevent TB spreading from one adult to another.
Anything which increases the number of people infected by each infectious person, such as ineffective treatment because of drug resistant TB, reduces the overall effect of the main TB prevention efforts. The presence of TB and HIV infection together also increases the number of people infected by each infectious person. As a result it is then more likely that globally the number of people developing active TB will increase rather than decrease.

Other TB prevention activities

There are several other TB prevention activities. This includes preventing people with latent TB from developing active, and infectious, TB disease.
TB infection control including the use of respirators and masks, which means preventing the transmission of TB in such settings as hospitals & prisons.
The pasteurization of milk also helps to prevent humans from getting bovine TB.
There is a vaccine for TB, but it makes only a small contribution to TB prevention. It does little to interrupt the transmission of TB among adults.

TB precautions, cough etiquette

TB is caused when a person breathes in TB bacteria that are in the air. So it is important that people with TB, who are not on effective treatment, do not release TB bacteria into the air when they cough.
Cough etiquette means that if you have TB, or you might have TB, then when you cough you should cover your mouth and nose with a tissue. You should put your used tissue in a bin. If you don't have a tissue then you should cough or sneeze into your upper sleeve or elbow. You should not cough into your hands. After you have coughed you should wash your hands.¹

TB prevention - the BCG vaccine

The vaccine called Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) was first developed in the 1920s. It is one of the most widely used of all current vaccines, and it reaches more than 80% of all new born children and infants in countries where it is part of the national childhood immunization programme.² However, it is also one of the most variable vaccines in routine use.
The BCG vaccine has been shown to provide children with excellent protection against the disseminated forms of TB. However protection against pulmonary TB in adults is variable. Since most transmission originates from adult cases of pulmonary TB, the BCG vaccine is generally used to protect children, rather than to interrupt transmission among adults.
The BCG vaccine will often result in the person vaccinated having a positive result to a TB skin test.

TB education

TB education is necessary for people with TB. People with TB need to know how to take their TB drugs properly. They also need to know how to make sure that they do not pass TB on to other people. But TB education is also necessary for the general public. The public needs to know basic information about TB for a number of reasons including reducing the stigma still associated with TB.

     Summary

•   Tuberculosis (TB) is a chronic infectious disease caused by mycobacterium tuberculosis
•  Risk factors for TB include prolonged exposure, overcrowding, low immunity and poverty.
•  Signs and symptoms of Pulmonary TB include cough for 2 weeks or more, fever, excessive night sweats, weight loss and coughing blood.
•  Early diagnosis and treatment is the major preventive measure of TB