Medical professionals, to prevent the disease developing in an at-risk individual for;
- An infant of 3 months, is to give the child the BCG vaccination
- An adult, is to perform a skin test.
The TB cases have risen from 5900 on 1998 to 6400 in 2005 this could be as result from many possible reasons, these include;
- The Population has increased
- An increase in people travelling abroad, therefore the disease can be brought into the country.
The number of cases of Tuberculosis in a developing country are a lot higher than the number of cases in the United Kingdome. This could be because of poorer living conditions, less developed medical care, and also the milk may not be pasteurised.
In a lot of cases, people who are infected with the TB bacterium, do not immediately develop the disease. The TB infection (latent tuberculosis) can stay inside a persons lungs, dormant and the disease only developing when the immune system is weakened, also people with latent tuberculosis cannot spread the disease, however TB disease (active tuberculosis) is when the TB bacteria overcome the defenses of the immune system and begin to multiply, resulting in the progression from latent TB infection to active TB disease. Some people develop active TB disease soon after infection, while others develop active TB disease later when their immune system becomes weak.
The number of deaths, due to TB, have decreased in many developed countries since the beginning of the 20th century, particularly since the 1950’s. Scientists believe that this is due to:
- Improvements in living standards
- Pasteurisation of milk
- Spitting in public places discouraged
Prevention and Control
TB prevention and control takes two parallel approaches. In the first, people with TB and their contacts are identified and then treated. Identification of infections often involves testing high-risk groups for TB. In the second approach, children are vaccinated to protect them from TB (The vaccine is also known as the BCG). Unfortunately, no vaccine is available that provides reliable protection for adults. However, in tropical areas where the incidence of atypical mycobacterium is high, exposure to non-tuberculosis mycobacterium gives some protection against TB.
