Friday, January 28, 2011

What are the problems involved in eradicating tuberculosis from the world

What are the problems involved in eradicating tuberculosis from the world?

Infectious Diseases - 2 Answers
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1 :
There are lots of problems in eradicating TB from the world. Firstly, you'd have to identify all the people infected. This is difficult because TB can remain dormant in your lungs for years, and you wouldn't know about it until it becomes active. You could give a skin test, but this will not show positive in people who are immunosuppressed (ie if they also have AIDS), or will always be positive in people who have had the TB vaccine (which is why we don't give the TB vaccine in the US, since it eliminates our only means of screening for TB and only prevents dissemination out of the lungs....something that rarely happens in the US anyway) During this latent stage, TB is very resistant to drug treatment, so just identifying and treating TB cases won't be effective. Also, since mycoplasma tuberculosis (the causative agent of TB) grows so slowly, the therapy for TB takes months and months. Many patients aren't compliant with this, since the drugs used to treat TB often have bad side effects. People often stop taking drugs when they don't "feel" sick anymore. This leads to resistant strains of TB. The other problem is that the cost of these drugs is extremely high. To treat all people infected with TB in some endemic areas would be more than their government could afford, and would divert a lot of money away from HIV infections if the US were to try to help. I hope that helps explain the problem a bit. While the there are serious setbacks from a scientific point of view, there are also a lot of socioeconomic and political factors at play. Such is the world.
2 :
My dissertation is actually on M. tuberculosis. The short version of the answer to this questions is: - 1 in 3 people are affected - most of those are in the thrid world - Some Tb has become resistant to the frontline drugs (MDR-TB) - Some MDR-Tb has become resistant to second line drugs (XDR-Tb) - Treatment lasts for over 6 months, and doesn't gaurentee 100% clearance of the bacteria from the body - Partly because the M. tuberculosis can infect the macrophages (which are White blood cells), and stay "hidden" from the antibiotics - Its not so much of a problem in the west because we have drugs, so there isn't the political will. Hope that helps. Check out this WHO site

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Monday, January 24, 2011

Question about Tuberculosis and Hepatitis B vaccinations

Question about Tuberculosis and Hepatitis B vaccinations?
I already got my vaccines when I was younger. Does that mean I don't need to get them anymore? Basically, I'm asking if I only need to get them once and that's it or what?
Other - Health - 1 Answers
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1 :
The hepatitis B vaccine is extremely effective. It has been confirmed to last for at least 25 years and is believed to provide lifetime immunity. If you have already gone through the 3-shot series, you do not need to be vaccinated again. I have not been able to find out how long the tuberculosis vaccine lasts. I suspect that it is a lifetime vaccination (if not, the source material will often recommend boosters), but I am not certain. If in doubt, you can probably have a blood titer done to determine whether you still have immunity

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Thursday, January 20, 2011

Which one of these options pertains to tuberculosis

Which one of these options pertains to tuberculosis?
Is it: ~infectious ~hereditary ~lifestyle disease ~all of above I chose "infectious", but I can't be sure.
Other - Diseases - 1 Answers
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1 :
Nope. "All of the above

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Sunday, January 16, 2011

Are Asylum Seekers and immigrants from third World Countries screened for Tuberculosis,Aids and other infect

Are Asylum Seekers and immigrants from third World Countries screened for Tuberculosis,Aids and other infect?
ious diseases on entry to the UK,or does this infringe their human rights.
Immigration - 4 Answers
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1 :
yES THEY ARE SCREENED. ALSO IN THE US TOO
2 :
Its not so much a human rights issue its a public health issue. Unfortunately only legal immigrants are screened. This is one of the biggest reasons why illegal immigration is such a big deal.
3 :
NayNay you are wrong about the US...maybe the legal immigrants are screened but the 20 million illegal aliens have not been screened! Why do you think drug resistan strains of diseases we eradicated decades ago are back in the picture? ATTRITION THRU ENFORCEMENT ONLY
4 :
I'm sure those who enter the country legally must be. Those who sneak in, of course, can't be screened

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Wednesday, January 12, 2011

What should you do to identify the causal agent, if you suspect that a patient has tuberculosis

What should you do to identify the causal agent, if you suspect that a patient has tuberculosis?
A. An acid-fast stain B. Look at the wet mount C. Check for motility D. Gram stain
Infectious Diseases - 2 Answers
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1 :
The answer is A, Final Answer, 100% sure.
2 :
the causative agent is a Mycobacterum species. they can be visualize using an ACID FAST STAIN

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Saturday, January 8, 2011

what are effects of tuberculosis after it has been cured

what are effects of tuberculosis after it has been cured ?
1)anything like reduced activity, slow mental response ?... 2)since part of the lung is destroyed, what difference does it make to the body ?
Respiratory Diseases - 4 Answers
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1 :
my ex had TB and after treatment no difference at all!!!!!to bad though cause she sucks!!!!!!
2 :
none after your 9 month period only that you will always come up positive for the test
3 :
there's nothing.. but tuberculosis will return if your immune system gets weak..
4 :
Complications: * Late complications of pulmonary TB include relapse, aspergilloma, bronchiectasis, broncholithiasis, fibrothorax, and possibly, carcinoma. A copy of the chest radiograph at the time of completion of therapy should be provided to the patient to facilitate the diagnosis of late complications. o The relapse rate following appropriate completed therapy is only 0-4% and occurs within the first 2 years after completion. Therefore, re-treatment usually is not necessary, especially after DOT. o Aspergilloma is a fungus ball that develops in a residual lung abnormality (eg, pneumatocele, bulla, bleb, cyst). It may appear as a crescent sign on chest radiographs. Other superinfections may manifest with an air-fluid level and often contain mixed bacteria, including anaerobes. o Hemoptysis is the most common late complication. Broncholithiasis is the result of spontaneous lymph node migration into the bronchial tree and may be associated with postobstructive pneumonia or esophageal perforation. Chronic bronchitis may develop from bronchiectasis; bleeding from submucosal bronchial veins usually is self-limited. o Fibrothorax is the development of trapped lung due to pleural fibrosis and scarring. o The risk for carcinoma is controversial but should be considered with newly developing clubbing. Prognosis: * The relapse rate following appropriate therapy is only 0-4% and occurs within the first 2 years after completion. Following successful completion of DOT, most cases of recurrent TB are probably due to reinfection rather than endogenous reactivation

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Tuesday, January 4, 2011

my husband had a tuberculosis skin test and it positive

my husband had a tuberculosis skin test and it positive?
he had a the test done 3 months ago immigration purposes only and now they told him to do it again and it came out positive .he needed a physical done for his new job.he explain to them that he already has the test done but they needed to check again he already has the tb shot when he was younger . the skin test came out positive but the x ray came out perfect is this something to be concer about? should i be teste d also? can somebody explain to me if this is normal? can he get the tb shot again although he alrady has it from when he was younger?
Infectious Diseases - 4 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
The BCG tuberculosis vaccine, which is used in many countries but not the united states, can cause a false positive on the ppd skin test for tb. If his chest x-Ray was fine then he probably does not have tuberculosis.
2 :
The tb skin test does NOT indicate tb infection- it indicates tb exposure. There is a BIG difference. The skin test is a preliminary test to see if he has ever been exposed to it. Many people will test positive on the skin test but do not have the infection. Hope this helps!
3 :
It just means he 's been exposed to the virus, not that he has TB. A check xray will rule that out. It's nothing to worry about.
4 :
Positive skin test means a person is exposed to the tuberculosis bacteria at some time in the past. Now that the chest X ray is negative, there is nothing to worry about

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Saturday, January 1, 2011

Why are they keeping secret the name of the guy who flew on airliners with tuberculosis

Why are they keeping secret the name of the guy who flew on airliners with tuberculosis?
This guy should be convicted of attempted manslaughter. Why are they keeping his name secret? He KNEW he had a really bad contagious disease yet he still flew. Since when do we keep criminal names secret?
Current Events - 9 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
Ahhh...because it's nobodies business what his name is. He has doctor/patient confidentiality. And it shows what kind of human being he is, not trying to grab his 15 minutes of fame by allowing his name to be released.
2 :
Probably for his safety. I guess there are a lot of people mad at him right now.
3 :
no one needs to know what his name is. they are allowing his seat assignments to be aired, there shouldn't be anymore need than that. if you are affected, you will know by the seat assignment.
4 :
Well first of all NOBODY has caught anything and the flight crew was all ready tested and was clean. TB is very easy to detect with a simple test. If they weren't exposed, most likely nobody else will get sick either. Of course they aren't going to tell the guys' name because people are totally nuts, would start harassing him and trying to hit him for lawsuits for being scared out of his mind. p.s. Yes he knew and you don't' think there are people running around with other contagious diseases that aren't telling others that they have them for fear of being condemned? Or they never got tested and passed it on to their partner? Think of all the venereal ie STD's in the population right now. Look at your question accusing a guy of manslaughter when nothing has happened, its called the lynch mob effect. You should be ashamed of yourself, they said it was just a precaution nothing has happened and if the flight attendants are okay I am sure the rest of the passengers will be the same.
5 :
He is innocent until proven guilty. There is no criminal here.
6 :
His medical condition is between him and his doctor. He needs treatment. And you think this guy is the only person in America with active TB who flies on airplanes? Honey, there are 15,000 people in the US with active (contagious) TB, and they're just the ones we know about. There are 15 MILLION Americans with latent TB, so I imagine the actual number of Americans with active TB might be in the hundreds of thousands.
7 :
Because, technically, he did not break any laws. Yeah, he may have been stupid and inconsiderate...but that is not a crime.
8 :
he is convicted already.
9 :
Because his life would not last long for what he did....manslaughter..knowingly travel and infect the public that way....does not mater how many people have the same thing or something else..if a person knowingly does that they are guilty as in AIDS too...if it was your family the answers would be a whole lot differ ant..

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