Tuberculosis causes

Tuberculosis is a well known contagious affliction. Since early times, people have been in contact with the bacteria that causes this disease, Mycobacterium tuberculosis. In the mid 1900, the first antibiotic was discovered and people thought that the cure was found. Later on, scientists found the infection very hard to cure, more and more strains of bacteria appeared, more and more people got infected by this contagious disease.

Thus, tuberculosis is known as an extremely contagious disease, if the environment is beneficial. The most likely people to get this infection are children, because their immune system is not fully developed and also the elderly, because after a certain age the immune system starts degrading and therefore becomes susceptible to various diseases. Despite these categories, there are people with scared immune systems, people who have AIDS or people with diabetes or cancer that are prone to get diseased by this bacteria. Also the probability of contacting this disease increases depending upon living conditions, hygiene and malnutrition or if one is addicted to drugs and/or alcoholism.

This disease can become infectious if it is airborne, which means if tiny particles (also called droplets) carrying the bacteria are eliminated in the environment. The main ways in which these little particles become available for ingestion are sneezing, coughing, singing, kissing or maybe just the simple act of talking can lead to a person being infected. People can easily ingest them and become in contact with this bacteria. Once introduced in the body, the tiny droplets go primarily to the lungs and either evolve and cause the disease or stay in a latent state. Even so, the spores can become active, if the conditions are favorable. In conclusion, one can be a carrier but the disease might not manifest itself for a certain period or even for a lifetime.

Doctors recommend people who have close encounters with tuberculosis infected patient to be very well prepared, to take some protective measures, such as: not to stay too close to the patient and to cover their nose and mouth with a paper tissues or with a protective mask when close to them. It is well thought-out that if a patient has been under antibiotic treatment for more than two weeks, he is no longer considered contagious. The most probable people that might get this disease are family members or co-workers. It is very unlikely to get this disease from a stranger.

Another cause for contacting this contagious disease is people that do not follow their strict antibiotics time table. This is very important when treating this affliction, firstly, because it is very hard to find the right combination of therapeutic drugs that have the wanted effect. Secondly, once the treatment is found, the physician has to be very careful that the patient will not become resistant to one or all of the antibiotics.

Tuberculosis is very sensitive to treat; the strains of bacterium are various, the antibiotics available nowadays are also very diverse. To asses if an antibiotic will have a positive effect on the patient, tests are done on cultures of the bacteria, in special laboratories. Following this, the treatment plan is given. The drugs must be taken with seriousness, for the best outcome of the procedure, getting cured of the dangerous and life-threatening disease.