Tuberculosis also known as TB, is a serious disease that affects millions of people world-wide each year. This respiratory illness usually infects the lungs, although it can affect any part of body or both at the same time. The agent that causes TB is mycobacteria such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Mycobacteria can be found easily in the environment such as soil and water but M. tuberculosis can only survive in its human hosts. About one-third of the human population has tuberculosis.
This highly contagious disease is spread through droplets in the air when an actively infected person coughs, spits, talks, sings, or sneezes and an uninfected person is close and catches the bacteria by inhaling it. A large majority of those infected do not have symptoms, which is known as latent tuberculosis. Ten percent of those with latent TB developed an active infection in their lifetime and about half of those with active TB will die from the disease. Symptoms may be mild the first few weeks or months of the disease, easily spreading to others due to how highly contagious it is.
The farthest back scientists have discovered TB is 2400BC through the spinal fragments of ancient Egyptian mummies. It was also found in bone fragments in South American from 750BC. Records prior to the 19th century have described this disease which then was also called consumption, white plague, dread disease, or the king’s evil. The spread of TB reached a peak during the 19th century Industrial Revolution in Europe where it killed one out of every seven people infected (UK Essays, 2014). The disease eventually spread to the United States when a large number of people immigrated to America and cities became vastly overpopulated and living conditions were poor.
Symptoms of tuberculosis are common and easy to identify. These classic symptoms include fever, chills, night sweats, anorexia and weight