On March 24, 1882, Dr. Robert Koch announced the discovery of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacterium that causes tuberculosis (TB).
TB infects animals as well as humans. Archeologists have found TB in the bones of ancient bison that lived over 17,000 years ago.
Today, we know TB is an airborne infectious disease, spread when a person with TB disease coughs, speaks, or sings.
When diagnosed with TB disease, a contact investigation is done to find and test people who may have been exposed to TB, the diagnosed people and the TB Infection are then treated.
While anyone can contract TB, the disease thrives among people living in poverty, communities and groups that are marginalized, and other vulnerable populations.
These include: migrants, refugees, ethnic minorities, miners and others working and living in risk-prone settings, the elderly, marginalized women and children in many settings etc.
Factors such as malnutrition, poor housing and sanitation, compounded by other risk factors such as tobacco and alcohol use and diabetes, affect vulnerability to TB and access to care.
Furthermore, this access is often hindered by catastrophic costs associated with illness, seeking and staying in care, and lack of social protection, resulting in a vicious cycle of poverty and ill-health.
The transmission of multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) adds great urgency to these concerns.
New technologies like whole genome sequencing help public health professionals see patterns of TB transmission. This tool can help focus public health efforts to find and treat persons with TB disease and latent TB infection.
Albert Calmette and Jean-Marie Camille Guerin developed the Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine in 1921. Prior to developing the BCG vaccine, Calmette developed the first antivenom to treat snake venom.
The BCG vaccine is often given to infants and small children to prevent TB meningitis in countries where TB is common. BCG does not always protect people from getting TB.
Today, four drugs are used to treat TB disease: isoniazid (1951), pyrazinamide (1952), ethambutol (1961), and rifampin (1966). This 4-drug cocktail is still the most common treatment for drug-susceptible TB.
In addition to treating TB disease, we can treat latent TB infection to prevent the development of TB disease in the future. Treatment for latent TB infection can take from three to nine months.
