Concepts in Community and Public Health
Epidemiology is an important concept in community and public health. It is a field that focuses on the study of diseases and how they are distributed among different population groups. Epidemiology assist community and public health care providers to understand the prevalence of a disease, what causes the disease to be prevalent in one group as compared to another, and how best to deal with the disease by understanding the epidemiologic triangle. As such, it is an assistive field in community and public health especially in combating various preventable diseases. This paper will focus on the epidemiology of TB, where different aspects surrounding the infectious disease will be discussed.
Tuberculosis (TB)
Tuberculosis, popularly known by its acronym TB, is a disease caused by bacteria, which was discovered in 1882, by Dr. Robert Koch when he discovered the causative agent, Mycobacterium Tuberculosis. The disease is hailed as the leading cause of death globally from a single infection. It is also regarded as the leading cause of death amongst people with Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (MacNeil et al., 2019). The statistics have prompted various agencies including the UN in their sustainable development goals and the WHO to put in place strategies and timelines to reduce the number of TB cases globally. Other than those with HIV, TB is known to be more prevalent in infants, older adults and people with weak immunity. The disease is also more prevalent in congested areas, in areas with poor air quality and people with poor nutrition.
As earlier indicated, the disease is caused by a bacterium called mycobacterium tuberculosis (Khan, 2017). The disease is airborne and is spread by inhaling droplets containing the bacteria, for example, from coughs or sneezing. With regards to symptoms, TB can be categorized into two, i.e., active and inactive Tb. It is estimated that over two billion people globally have inactive TB in their bodies (MacNeil et al., 2019). Inactive TB, also known as latent TB is mainly asymptomatic and cannot be spread from person to person. However, it can turn to active TB, thus treatment of persons with latent TB is appropriate to prevent the development of the disease to active TB where it can spread to others and is accompanied by negative health outcomes. In active TB, the symptoms include prolonged coughing (lasting more than three weeks), coughing blood, chest pains when breathing or coughing, wheezing sounds when breathing, fever and fatigue, and sudden loss of weight. One of the complications of TB is that it can further spread into other organs including the brain, kidneys, spine, which will be accompanied by other symptoms, for example, presence of blood in the urine in case of TB infection of the kidneys (Cudahy & Shenoi, 2016).
Upon witnessing the above-listed symptoms, it is advisable to seek medical help where screening can be conducted to ascertain the presence of infection and prompt therapy to prevent further spread of the infection and to facilitate quick recovery of the patient. The CDC advises that people who are considered at higher risk of latent TB, get screened so that they can be put into therapy before the disease develops into active TB, in case the results return positive. Such high-risk persons include people with HIV/AIDS or people who live in areas where TB is common.
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