Tuberculosis Health Article

Definition

Tuberculosis is a chronic, infectious disease that primarily attacks the lungs.

Description

Tuberculosis (TB) is caused by a bacteria that primarily attacks the lungs. An individual may be "TB infected," meaning the bacteria are in the body but are in an inactive state, walled off behind scab-like structures that are the body's defense mechanism, or have "TB disease," when the bacteria actively spread throughout the body and can cause damage to the lungs or other organs. The severity of the attack depends on whether the bacteria spread from the lungs to other parts of the body. TB infection in the blood, the meninges (membranes around the brain and spinal cord), or the kidneys are the most serious. Children between the ages of six and 24 months are the most susceptible to meningitis; it is the chief cause of tuberculin death among children.

Transmission

The bacteria that causes TB, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, is transmitted by droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes. It is not spread through kissing or other physical contact. Children nearly always contract the disease from an infected adult.

Demographics

In 2003, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported 14,874 cases of tuberculosis in the United States, or 5.1 cases per 100,000 population. The actual number of TB infections, however, is estimated to be much higher, as high as ten million. In 2002, there were 802 tuberculosis-related deaths. The District of Columbia had the highest rates of TB, with 14 cases per 100,000 people in 2003; Montana and Wyoming had the lowest rate, with 0.8 cases per 100,000 population. Children less than 15 years of age represented 6 percent of reported TB cases, and 15–24-year-olds represented 11 percent of all cases. Worldwide, TB cases are the rise, with nearly 8.8 million new cases a year being estimated by the World Health Organization (WHO).