The Infection Prevention and Control Department prepared pamphlets to educate the community on TB including its history.  The first recognition of tuberculosis was found in decayed fragments in the spinal columns of Egyptian mummies from around 2400 BC.  The famous Ibn Sina, 1020’s, was the first to note that pulmonary TB was a communicable disease spreading through soil and water thereby requiring a method of quarantine to limit its spread.  In 1882 Robert Koch identified Mycobacterium as the cause for TB.  Currently there are several effective antibiotics including Streptomycin for treating TB patients.

Symptoms of TB include persistent coughing, sometimes bloody sputum, weight loss, fevers, night sweats and some other symptoms if other organs are involved.  A person who is infected but without active TB disease may show no symptoms.  TB can be spread through all manners involving mucus secretions such as coughing, spitting, sneezing or being in crowded places.

TB is a fatal disease if not detected early and treated properly.  Diagnosis is made by PPD tests, chest x-ray, sputum smears or culture if other tissues are involved. The typical PPD test is done by injecting a small amount of testing fluid or tuberculin, just under the skin and then after 2 or 3 days measuring the size of swelling.  Large swellings most likely suggest a positive test result.

Applying disease control measures such as hand washing, covering coughs and educating the community about hazards of spitting; along with TB vaccinations will help reduce the spread of this disease. It is vital that those who are diagnosed and given medication finish all of the prescription in order to contain and reduce the ability of the bacterium to become resistant to current treatments. The World Health Organization estimates that one third of the world’s population is infected with Mycobacterium.  Early diagnosis and treatments are key to stopping the spread of TB.

For more information see the attached 2011 TB Global Facts or you can visit http://www.stoptb.org/events/world_tb_day/2009/

Photo: CDC/ Elizabeth "Libby" White (PHIL #8433).