tuberculosis

Examples of tuberculosis in the following topics:

• Antimycobacterial Antibiotics

  • The types of pathogens considered to be mycobacterium include Mycobacterium tuberculosis (tuberculosis) and Mycobacterium leprae (leprosy).
  • A type of antimycobacterial antibiotic includes the class of drugs used for tuberculosis (TB) treatment.
  • For latent tuberculosis, the standard treatment is six to nine months of isoniazid alone.
  • Here, a TEM of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of tuberculosis.
  • Compare and contrast the drugs used for treatment of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium leprae

• Effects of Drug Combinations

  • Further, tuberculosis has been treated with combination therapy for over fifty years.
  • Treating tuberculosis, or other pathogenic microbes with more than one antibiotic reduces the chance that the microbe will adapt and survive the treatment, especially if the two drugs have different methods of reducing the microbe's normal functions.
  • This x-ray of a tuberculosis patient shows the lung on the left side completely infected and the right lung partially infected (the dark areas), with tuberculosis.

• DNA Analysis Using Genetic Probes and PCR

  • This method has been successfully used for the detection of mutations in drug resistance genes of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and for Mycobacterium species identification .
  • Spoligotyping, a reverse dot blot assay that detects the presence of a series of unique spacers in the direct repeat (DR) locus, meets the need for a simple and rapid method by which to distinguish M. tuberculosis complex strains.

• Emerging and Reemerging Infectious Diseases

  • They could also be reemerging infections, such as drug resistant tuberculosis.
  • Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB (short for tubercle bacillus) is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
  • Tuberculosis typically attacks the lungs, but can also affect other parts of the body.

• Portals of Microbe Entry

  • Diseases that are commonly spread by coughing or sneezing include: bacterial meningitis, chickenpox, the common cold, influenza, mumps, Strep throat, tuberculosis, measles, rubella, and whooping cough.
  • Interestingly, some contagious diseases like tuberculosis were not classically considered to be contagious even though they are transmissible from person to person.
  • In this chest X-ray of a person with advanced tuberculosis, the infections in both lungs are marked by white arrowheads and the formation of a cavity is marked by black arrows.
  • The boundary between contagious and non-contagious infectious diseases is not perfectly drawn, as illustrated by tuberculosis, which is clearly transmissible from person to person, but was not classically considered a contagious disease.

• Type IV (Delayed Cell-Mediated) Reactions

  • A classic example of delayed type IV hypersensitivity is the Mantoux tuberculin test in which skin induration indicates exposure to tuberculosis.
  • Other examples include: temporal arteritis, Hashimoto's thyroiditis, symptoms of leprosy, symptoms of tuberculosis, coeliac disease, graft-versus-host disease and chronic transplant rejection.
  • The Mantoux test (also known as the Mantoux screening test, tuberculin sensitivity test, Pirquet test, or PPD test for purified protein derivative) is a diagnostic tool for tuberculosis.

• Airborne Transmission of Disease

  • Many types of infections that can be a result of airborne transmission include: Anthrax, Chickenpox, Influenza, Measles, Smallpox, and Tuberculosis.
  • For example, tuberculosis is common in individuals from developing areas in the world, adding to 95% of cases worldwide.

• The Sulfur Cycle

  • For example, Mycobacterium tuberculosis (the bacteria causing tuberculosis) and Mycobacterium leprae (which causes leoprosy) both utilize sulfur, so the sulfur pathway is a target of drug development to control these bacteria.

• Coupling Specific Genes to Specific Organisms Using PCR

  • Additionally, PCR is used for identifying bacterial species, such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis in tissue specimens.
  • The bacilli are identified by using Mycobacterium tuberculosis specific genes.

• Predisposing Factors

  • For example, globally, the severe malnutrition common in parts of the developing world causes a large increase in the risk of developing active tuberculosis and other opportunistic infections, due to its damaging effects on the immune system.
  • Along with overcrowding, poor nutrition may contribute to the strong link observed between tuberculosis and poverty.