Andrew Speaker

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003736012_tb06.html

A lawyer from Atlanta, Andrew Speaker, has a strain of drug-resistant tuberculosis. Doctors had told him not to go out into public, to reduce the risk of spreading tuberculosis. Andrew ignored the doctor's orders and instead went to Italy for his honeymoon. He was immediately retrieved from his trip and brought to Denver where he was quarantined in a special facility. After tests at the facility, Andrew came up negative for all of them. This doesn't mean that Andrew doesn't have tuberculosis though. Doctors have proven that 10 of 14 drugs used to treat tuberculosis had no effect on Andrews strain of TB. Although Andrew is infected with a dangerous strain of tuberculosis, scientists and doctors have found that he has a very low chance of spreading the disease. He seems perfectly healthy, but doctors are still trying to find a cure to eliminate his tuberculosis.

Isoniazid - Tuberculosis Drug

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/medmaster/a682401.html

Tuberculosis is treated with a drug called Isoniazid, which kills active tuberculosis bacteria. This drug is available as a tablet or a liquid. It can be used to prevent tuberculosis in a host that has come in contact with the disease. Although, the drug needs to be taken over a long period of time to ensure that all of the TB bacteria is destroyed. If the drug is not taken properly, or the person infected with tuberculosis stops taking the medication before the bacteria is gone, drug-resistant tuberculosis could be created. Different strains of drug-resistant tuberculosis are very dangerous and can't be cured by taking drugs. They are cureable but the patient needs to go through years of chemotherapy before they are cured of tuberculosis.

Gathered Materials

Over the weekend, Raymond, Alex, and I all got together at Raymond's house. We thought about what we needed to make our product really good. We were able to go to Home Depot to get a board and some hinges. We will be drawing a map of South Africa, and pasting it on our board. This will enable us to attach hinges to the map with flaps of wood, covering answers to questions about tuberculosis and its effect on South Africa. We only got a few hinges because we didn't want to get too much, and we could always get more later. The board we got was really long so we're going to cut off part of the board and use that to create the flaps.

Plans for the weekend

Raymond, Alex, and I have all decided to work on our project during the weekend. We have all chosen to work at Raymond's house, after gathering all of our supplies. Our main focus is to start our project, and have at least half of our map drawn. I will be drawing our map and it should be finished tuesday, June 5th. We hope to get a lot of work done during the weekend so that we'll be ahead of schedule, so we have time to revise and fix and problems that we might have.

We have also decided to research the present problem of tuberculosis, regarding the case of the man who was diagnosed with Multi Drug-resistant (MDR) Tuberculosis. This type of TB is immune to medical drugs used to treat tuberculosis. It is only treatable by long term chemotherapy. Currently, the man has been quarantined in Denver at a special facility. This case is becoming more serious because of the possibility that the man could have spread MDR TB, since it is contagious by contact.

Our Project

So for our project, my group and I have decided to set deadlines and jobs for each member of the group. Raymond will be responsible for creating the question and answer part of our project, Alex will be assembling the map and questions onto our presentation board, and I will be drawing the map. The deadlines we have set are:

1) Have all materials collected by Monday, June 4th
2)Finish drawing the map by Tuesday, June 5th

Those are the two most important parts of the project that we need to worry about right now. We had decided to go to someone's house and head out to Michael's or some place where we can buy all of our needed materials.

Leading Infectious Killer

www.ifpri.org/2020/focus/focus05/focus05_05.asp

Ariel Pablos-Mendez
February 2001

Tuberculosis (TB) is the world's leading infectious killer of young and middle-aged adults, causing 26 percent of avoidable deaths in the developing world. The Global Burden of Disease study (see brief 2 in this collection) places TB among the seven leading causes of lost Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) well into the 21st century.

TB is a highly infectious airborne disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Crowded homes and congregate settings (such as shelters, hospitals, and prisons) tend to foster transmission. Although pulmonary TB is the most common form, the disease can affect virtually any organ (for example, lymph nodes, brain, and genitals). Classical clinical manifestations include coughing (sometimes bloody), fever, and weight loss. The germ may remain dormant for years before it emerges as "active" disease. While activation of dormant infection is hard to predict, TB emerges most commonly among people with compromised immunity, such as those with malnutrition, diabetes, and HIV/AIDS infection.

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I found it interesting that TB was the leading infectious killer. Why is TB so threatening when it can be so easily treated? It was really interesting to find out that tuberculosis can stay in someone's body for a long amount of time without being "active". Will tuberculosis continue to be an increasing threat? When will third world countries gain easy access to the drugs?

South Africa TB

http://www.amref.org/index.asp?PageID=50&PiaID=2







Tuberculosis has been a rising problem in South Africa. Over the years, tuberculosis has been an increasing threat to South Africa and its people. Tuberculosis is now considered and emergency to South Africa, as HIV has increased the impact of TB on South Africans. Because of South Africa's limited access to resources, tuberculosis has become a big problem in Africa. Many people in South Africa have no idea that there is a treatable drug for tuberculosis or they have no money or access to these types of drugs.

Because a large amount of South Africa's people have AIDS/HIV, they are more susceptible to the effects of tuberculosis. This makes South Africa one of the most affected countries by this disease.

It's sad how the people living in South Africa have no choice on where they live and how much money they have. They aren't able to cure easily treatable diseases. Why doesn't South Africa have easy access to drugs that cure TB? If tuberculosis is so easily cured, how come the rate of TB in South Africa is increasing instead of decreasing?

Tuberculosis - The Lung Disease

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs104/en/

RELATED LINKS- Global TB Control Report (2007) - Tuberculosis - Stop TB Partnership
For more information contact:
WHO Media centre Telephone: +41 22 791 2222 E-mail: mediainquiries@who.int
Glenn Thomas - Communication Officer Stop TB, WHO Mobile phone: +41 79 509 0677 E-mail: thomasg@who.int

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This article tells me a lot about TB because I could tell it was a reliable source just by knowing that it's from the WHO organization. There is even contact info and related links about this topic that could help me even more.

Some interesting things I found out about TB is that one out of every three people is infected with tuberculosis bacillus. Although they have TB, it is not active and is not very serious. I have also found out that tuberculosis is most severe in third world countries such as Africa and South-East Asia. Tuberculosis is cureable but the people living in these countries can not afford to pay for the drugs and medication required to treat TB. For every one person left untreated, 10 - 15 people are infected with TB every year. Even after infection, people may never experience the symptoms of tuberculosis because their immune system is able to isolate the disease. Tuberculosis could stay in someone's body for years until that person's immune system is weakened, making them more susceptible to getting sick. HIV and TB create a killer combination to the human body. Because HIV weakens a person's immune system, tuberculosis is able to make someone sick more easily. Many people die from untreated TB every year, especially in Africa and South-East Asia. Every second someone new is infected with tuberculosis, increasing the death rate caused by TB. Because TB is an aerosol disease, it is almost impossible to prevent from being infected, but it is very easy to be treated and cured for this sickness.

The two most major drugs used to treat TB are rifampicin and isoniazid. If not properly taken, drug resistant TB can be created. This results from ceasing to take the medicine after symptoms have decreased, taking the medicine from an unreliable source, or if doctors prescribe the wrong treatments. Drug resistant tuberculosis can be cured over time with chemotherapy.

All this info that I learned from this single website was very interesting. It kind of made me think that I might have tuberculosis, and I started to become curious. Right now I want to go to the hospital and see I have tuberculosis. It's kind of sad that third world countries can't afford the medication and care to treat this disease, and because of this more and more people are being affected. Tuberculosis is an easily cureable disease and can be reduced dramatically. TB is an incredible disease. It's able to survive in a hosts body for years without anything. It can also become resistant to the drugs used to cure it. Tuberculosis is also an aerosol disease! It is transferred just by coughing or sneezing, just like the common cold. Its symptoms are amplified when inside a host with AIDS. Tuberculosis is truly the king of diseases.