This
article, which was published on March 24, 2014, pertains to Tuberculosis and
how many people are unaware of the disease.
The article states, “In 2012, 220,000 cases were reported, but PAHO/WHO
estimates an additional 60,000 people remain undiagnosed, most of them living
in cities.” Sixty thousand is a
strikingly large number of people who were estimated to be undiagnosed. One out of every five people infected with TB
in the Americas is unaware of the disease due to the lack of access to health services
or because they were not properly diagnosed.
This statistic is a frightening indicator and could be potentially detrimental
to the health of civilians in the Americas.
Tuberculosis
is caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium
tuberculosis, which most commonly affects the lungs. One out of three people worldwide has latent
tuberculosis, which means they are infected but do not have any active symptoms
of the disease and cannot transmit it.
In 2012, the estimated 60,000 people
who were believed to have TB have not yet been diagnosed or reported. This circumstance not only endangers their
lives but facilitates further transmission of TB. It also generates socioeconomic costs for
individuals and their communities. "The
diagnosis and treatment of all people affected by TB can only succeed if all
health providers, community organizations, partners, and countries join forces
to detect and treat these 60,000 people", stated PAHO/WHO Director Carissa
F. Etienne. Everyone across the globe
deserves access to high-quality healthcare.
This measure will help reduce the toll of TB and help ensure that all
Americans live long, healthy lives.
High numbers of Tuberculosis cases are
most prevalent in large cities – usually in the outskirts, where living conditions
lead to overcrowding. Limited access to
clean drinking water and properly functioning sewage systems also play a major role in how the
disease is contracted and spread. With
the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID),
PAHO/WHO is implementing an initiative for control of tuberculosis in the large
cities of the region that tries to diagnose cases of TB in a timely manner, so
as to speed up the reduction of the disease in the Americas.
The Americas
have reduced the prevalence of tuberculosis by 61% between 1990 and 2012, and
have reduced the TB mortality rate by 68% in the same period. This is great news! The progress achieved is largely due to the
implementation of the PAHO/WHO "Stop TB" strategy, which is based on
timely diagnosis and treatment, universal access to care, and adequate
combinations of anti-tuberculosis drugs. Today in the U.S. TB tests are
commonly done.
However, in Latin America
and the Caribbean, tuberculosis is still one of the leading causes of death
from a single infectious agent, alongside HIV/AIDS. In addition to undiagnosed cases, other
challenges include the spread of multidrug-resistant TB, the emergence of
extensively drug-resistant TB, and the increasing frequency of TB and HIV/AIDS
co-infection.
This
article reminded me of the book, Mountains
Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder.
Dr. Paul Farmer works tremendously hard to treat and diagnose patients
with TB in Haiti. In the book, it
explains Farmer’s difficulty with treating patients with multidrug-resistant
TB. In my opinion this article is very
sad that so many people are unaware of tuberculosis. One and five people are a lot more than I
expected. Before reading this article, I
wasn’t that clear on the science behind the disease. It is a relief that the number of TB cases
are decreasing and the physicians around the world are getting better at
diagnosing it.
Original
article: “In the Americas, One in Five People with Tuberculosis is Unaware of
the Disease” by Staff Editor, published March 24 2014 in Health News Digest. http://www.healthnewsdigest.com/news/Disease_420/In-the-Americas-One-in-Five-People-with-Tuberculosis-is-Unaware-of-the-Disease.shtml
I think you chose a very relevant article to write about. I also saw an obvious connection between the above article and Mountains Beyond Mountains. It is alarming that so many people go undiagnosed or are just frankly ignorant of the disease. Articles like this, books such as Mountains Beyond Mountains, and public health measures will only help raise awareness. Your statistic about how much the disease prevalence has been reduced in the past few decades is significant and encouraging, and hopefully we can continue to make this disease less of a problem.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really interesting article, and I was also reminded of Dr. Farmer's work with multi-drug resistant tuberculosis in Peru, especially when the article mentioned that people living in Latin America were suffering particularly badly from TB. I'm really surprised that there are still so many cases of tuberculosis each year in the United States. It's a disease that I mostly associate with earlier centuries and poorer countries. It's good, though, that there's a program in place to help treat TB patients.
ReplyDeleteThis article has really great information about TB. Like the rest, I immediately thought of Mountains Beyond Mountains and Paul Farmer's quest to stop the disease. I was really surprised about the shear number of people living with the disease and how many of them do not even know it. It's also scary to see how they are mainly in cities, since TB can be spread by close contact, like in cities. While there certainly has been much progress in lowering TB cases, these statistics show that more work needs to be done and hopefully with this work TB can be stopped.
ReplyDeleteLike everyone else I also made the connection to Mountains Beyond Mountains. I agree with Steph that it's extremely alarming how people with TB are undiagnosed or are ignorant. I think that this article has really good info about tuberculosis. Prevalence of TB in the Americas has been reduced by 61% which is great and hopefully we can continue to reduce the number in the future.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy that in your article you mentioned some additional information about TB to make it easier to understand. Its alarming how while TB rates are improving in the United States there are still some countries where TB is one of the leading causes of death. Again connecting to mountains beyond mountains its hard to believe that medicine can be so advanced and people can be so well informed in some parts of the world while others are struggling to contain a treatable disease. Hopefully the 60,000 people who are either undiagnosed or misdiagnosed don't find out too late once they have transmitted it to someone else. I wonder if you have TB and don't present symptoms whether you can give TB to someone and have them present symptoms.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy that in your article you mentioned some additional information about TB to make it easier to understand. Its alarming how while TB rates are improving in the United States there are still some countries where TB is one of the leading causes of death. Again connecting to mountains beyond mountains its hard to believe that medicine can be so advanced and people can be so well informed in some parts of the world while others are struggling to contain a treatable disease. Hopefully the 60,000 people who are either undiagnosed or misdiagnosed don't find out too late once they have transmitted it to someone else. I wonder if you have TB and don't present symptoms whether you can give TB to someone and have them present symptoms.
ReplyDelete