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Tuberculosis: Control of Non-Endemic Communicable Diseases
Tuberculosis is an infectious disease which is traditionally considered a disease of poverty. It influences mainly adults of the productive age (McHugh, 2013). According to World Health Organization (2017), it is among the ten major causes of death worldwide. As of 2015, 10.4 million people in the world had tuberculosis. It also became the reason for 1.8 million mortal cases (World Health Organization, 2017).
Besides, tuberculosis is the main cause of death among HIV-positive patients. However, TB is successfully treated when timely diagnosed. For example, 49 million people survived TB due to the proper treatment within the period from 2000 to 2015 (World Health Organization, 2017). Thus, the awareness of risk factors, proper use of surveillance, organized activities for prevention and control may contribute to the end of TB epidemics by 2030 which is one of the targets of Sustainable Development Goals (World Health Organization, 2017).
Risk Factors for Tuberculosis
There is a complex set of risk factors for tuberculosis. According to Narasimhan, Wood, MacIntyre, & Mathai (2013), they include factors related to the index case, factors related to the individual, socioeconomic and behavioral factors, demographic factors, and health system issues. Thus. The exposure to TB depends on age, gender, immune status, nutrition, comorbidities (like diabetes of HIV), the duration of contact with the infected person, bad habits, the environment, etc. Moreover, a weak healthcare system cannot provide the appropriate control of the disease and it is spread further.
The Use of Surveillance to Control Tuberculosis
The surveillance is crucially important with communicable diseases. For example, pre-immigration TB screening followed by the post-arrival control may reduce the occurrence of TB among immigrants and in the country in general (Aiona et al., 2015). The European experience in TB surveillance resulted in a detailed map of TB which included the locations of TB outbreaks, and their demographic distribution (Werf, Blasi, Giesecke, & Migliori, 2013). It helped to detect the causes of outbreaks and provide the control over disease.
Prevention and Control Activities
TB testing is among the activities that are aimed at control and prevention of the disease. It may be applied even in individuals with low TB risk factors (Siegel, Cavanaugh, Ku, Knights, Kawamura, & Winthrop, 2016). Definitely, the testing and investigations are obligatory for the categories with high risk factors. Another activity to prevent tuberculosis is vaccination. The only accepted TB vaccine today is BCG. However, only 34 countries out of 53 of the World Health Organization have a BCG vaccination program (Werf et al., 2013).
One of the ways to control tuberculosis outbreaks is to provide a thorough control for travelers. For example, the foreign students are not screened for tuberculosis. The research by Collins, Reves, & Belknap (2016) proved the high rates of tuberculosis among international students. Consequently, the governmental control in this field will reduce the occurrence of TB infection and improve the epidemic situation in general.
Conclusions
Tuberculosis is a burden of contemporary society. Although being characteristic of poor countries, it occurs in the developed ones too. The ways to eliminate the disease are the prevention and control activities. They should be provided not only by separate healthcare organizations, but globally, since TB is a communicable disease.
References
Aiona, K., Lowenthal, P., Painter, J.A., Reves, R., Flood, J., Parker, M., & Walter, N.W. (2015). Transnational record linkage for tuberculosis surveillance and program evaluation. Public Health Reports, 130(5).
Collins, J.M., Reves, R.R., & Belknap, R.W. (2016). High rates of tuberculosis and opportunities for prevention among international students in the United States. Annals of the Americn Thracic Society, 13(4). Web.
McHugh, T.D. (Ed.). (2013). Tuberculosis: Diagnosis and treatment. Oxfordshire, UK: CABI.
Narasimhan, P., Wood, J., MacIntyre, C.R., & Mathai, D. (2013). Risk factors for tuberculosis. Pulmonary Medicine, 2013. 1-12.
Siegel, S.A., Cavanaugh, M., Ku, J.H., Knights, A., Kawamura, L.M., & Winthrop, K.L. (2016). Updated 4th generation QuantiFERON®-TB testing in individuals with low tuberculosis risk factors. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
Werf, M.J., Blasi, F., Giesecke, J., & Migliori, G.B. (2013). Lessons leart in Europe on tuberculosis surveillance, outbreaks and BCG vaccination in 2011. European Respiratory Journal, 41(4). Web.
World Health Organization. (2017). Tuberculosis: Fact sheet. Web.
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