Tuberculosis is a common infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis is now a significant problem in many countries around the world; regardless of the level of economic development, since 1990, there has been a worldwide increase in the incidence of tuberculosis among people. Morbidity increased three times, and mortality from it – by five times. This work establishes the concept of such a disease as tuberculosis, its post-exposure prophylaxis, the affected area, and statistical data.
Tuberculosis is an infectious disease that enters the human body with a tubercle bacillus. It is usually transmitted by airborne droplets when communicating, coughing, sneezing, and kissing (Xin et al., 2021). After that, the bacteria remain viable for a long time, getting into the air or settling on various objects – books, toys, and clothes. Presently, a person of any age is susceptible to the disease. According to statistics, young people under 18 are more likely to be at risk of the disease. Moreover, the probability of tuberculosis in this group of people has increased threefold (Okada et al., 2018). At the same time, tuberculosis that develops in these individuals has a severe progressive course. It is worth noting that tuberculosis does not affect any race more than others, as it can affect anyone.
Global Information
The global protocol for reporting TB is that in 2018, there were 7 million cases of people reporting illness to healthcare organizations worldwide, representing 70% of the estimated number of TB cases (World Health Organization, 2021). In 2020, about ten million people became infected (MacNeil, 2020). According to statistics, about 5.6 million are men, 3.3 million women, and 1.1 million children (World Health Organization, 2021). This means that health care workers often overlook childhood TB, as it is not always obvious but is difficult to treat. Moreover, in 2020, approximately one in three people sought treatment for tuberculosis. However, the incidence of tuberculosis is declining by about two percent annually. From 2000 to 2020, doctors saved nearly 66 million lives due to the timely detection and treatment of the disease (World Health Organization, 2021).
Nevada’s Information
In Nevada, tuberculosis statistics are at an average level. It has an average of 100 active cases of TB every year (Okada et al., 2018). In Clark County, Nevada, there are an estimated 80,000 individuals with latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI), and this group accounts for the majority of new cases of active TB. (Southern Nevada Health District, 2021). About one out of every 10 people with LTBI develops active TB over their lifetime (Southern Nevada Health District, 2021).
When a patient is registered as infected, the clinic adds information to the list of alerts. This is reported to his relatives and the likelihood of their illness. Then, the patient proceeds to the first-line treatment phases, where repeated sampling of tests takes place. If a positive test is confirmed, the second, final phase of the patient’s treatment begins (World Health Organization, 2020). The State of Nevada has tuberculosis prevention, control, and elimination program that seeks to reduce TB incidence. (Department of Health and Human Services Nevada Division of Public and Behavioral Health, 2022). All persons diagnosed with a disease are guaranteed immediate care and best practice treatment. Special time frames have not been established due to the individual course of the disease and, accordingly, the unique selection of therapy. Thus, surveillance is vital to prevent new and treat existing cases of TB. Both the relief of the patient’s life and the lives of his relatives and friends is the primary goal of epidemiological surveillance.
Post-Exposure Prophylaxis
When a TB patient is detected in the family, the so-called contact persons are at risk of infection. They need to limit communication with the patient, and it is better to stop contact with him entirely and then undergo an examination by a physician. A complete set of precautions and prevention of tuberculosis includes the following items:
- Hospitalization of the patient;
- Appropriate disinfection;
- Regular inspections of contact persons;
- The study and application of sanitary rules for patient care (Xin et al., 2021).
References
Department of Health and Human Services Nevada Division of Public and Behavioral Health. (2022). Tuberculosis (TB) Prevention, Control and Elimination Program. NV.gov. Web.
MacNeil, A. (2020). Global epidemiology of tuberculosis and progress toward meeting global targets — Worldwide, 2018. MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 69(11), 281–285.
Okada, R. C., Barry, P. M., Skarbinski, J., & Chitnis, A. S. (2018). Epidemiology, detection, and management of tuberculosis among end-stage renal disease patients. Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, 39(11), 1367–1374.
Southern Nevada Health District. (2021). Program Policy Statement. Southern Nevada Health District. Web.
World Health Organization. (2021). Tuberculosis. Web.
Xin, H., Jin, Q., & Gao, L. (2021). Conditional expanding post-exposure prophylaxis: a potential new tool for tuberculosis control. ERJ Open Research, 7(1), 00723-2020.