Why We Are Still At Risk For Contracting Tb And What To Do About It

Tuberculosis or TB as most of the world refers to it was once a major health concern that killed hundreds of thousands of people or more all over the world. TB is caused by the mycobacterium tuberculosis and is a slow-growing type of bacteria that loves oxygen rich environment, which is why it most often affects the lungs. It is highly contagious and a person with active TB has the potential to infect thousands of people.

Why TB is Still A Risk

The reasons why the world is still at risk, despite many precautions and the latest treatments stem from several things. First of all, some people do not realize that they have TB. For some, they have a form called latent TB which does not manifest any symptoms and can lie dormant for years. People with latent TB cannot infect others; however, if it becomes active, presenting a variety of symptoms, they can spread it. The problem is that many of them, when TB becomes active, do not realize they have TB. Many of these symptoms can be interpreted as something else: fatigue, fever, weight loss, night sweats, productive coughs, swollen lymph nodes and rapid heartbeat.

This lack of knowledge about having latent TB is one of the main reasons why tuberculosis will always be a problem. It will always be lying dormant somewhere inside someone until such time that a simple cold or even a broken bone can “wake” it up and cause active TB. If this happens, no one, even doctors, will necessarily attribute the symptoms to TB because the person could have been exposed years ago. Only through a TB skin test or blood test can a doctor be sure a person has TB.

Controlling TB in your own World

While tuberculosis is still rather uncommon these days in the scheme of things, it is still enough of a problem to cause worries in the medical world. Therefore, you can do some things yourself in terms of infection control to try and avoid becoming another TB statistic. Because tuberculosis is primarily airborne, you can easily breathe in germs from an infected person who has coughed. Therefore, you need to be particularly careful in these instances:

You are a healthcare worker who has cared for others with untreated tuberculosis.
You live in the same house or have close contact with someone who has active TB.
You do not have adequate access to medical care because you are a drug abuser, homeless or migrant.
You work in a population which may have cases of untreated TB such as military bases, shelters, prisons and nursing homes.

If you believe that you are at risk, always take precautionary measures such as wearing a mask or avoiding certain situations where you might come in close contact with a potential TB victim. And if you do come in contact with someone who may have TB, a visit to the doctor will be necessary to see if you have contracted this contagious disease. The quicker a case is diagnosed, the quicker medications can be started so that it can be treated successfully. And always take the full course of medications, even if you are feeling better. Laxity in taking medications is another potential reason why TB is still thriving.

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