Stephen Gordon^*
*Correspondence: Stephen Gordon, Department of Respiratory Care, Tropical Respiratory Medicine Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine Liverpool, UK, Email:

Received: 08-Nov-2021 Accepted Date: Nov 22, 2021 ; Published: 29-Nov-2021

Keywords

Odor, COVID-19, taste

Commentary

Tuberculosis (TB) is a highly contagious disease caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB). Tuberculosis often affects the lungs, but may also affect other parts of the body. Many diseases do not show any symptoms, known as latent tuberculosis. About 10% of latent diseases continue to be an active disease, which, if left untreated, kills about half of those infected. The most common symptoms of active TB are a persistent cough with bloody mucus, fever, night sweats, and weight loss. It has historically been called exercise due to disease-related weight loss. Infection of other organs can cause many symptoms. Tuberculosis spreads from person to person as people with active TB in their lungs cough, spit, talk, or sneeze. People with Latent TB do not spread the disease. Active infections are more common in people with HIV / AIDS and in smokers. Diagnosis of live TB is based on chest X-rays, as well as microscopic tests and fluid culture. Diagnosis of Fatal TB depends on a tuberculin skin test (TST) or a blood test.

Prevention of TB involves screening those at high risk, early detection and treatment of conditions, and vaccination with the bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine. Those most at risk include home, workplace, and contact with people with active TB. Treatment requires long-term use of antibiotics. Antibiotic resistance is a growing problem with increasing levels of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). By 2018, a quarter of the world’s population was thought to have a latent TB infection. New infections occur in about 1% of people each year. By 2020, an estimated 10 million people were living with active TB, resulting in 1.5 million deaths, making it the second leading cause of death from infectious disease after COVID-19. As of 2018, the highest incidence of TB occurred in the Southeast Asian regions (44%), Africa (24%), and the Western Pacific (18%), and more than 50% of the population in eight countries. The number of new cases each year decreases by about 2% per year. About 80% of people in most Asian and African countries are tested for HIV while 5-10% of people in the United States test positive for tuberculin testing. Tuberculosis has been around for a long time.

When TB starts to work, it usually involves the lungs (about 90% of cases). Symptoms may include chest pain and a prolonged cough that produces sputum. About 25% of people may have no symptoms (i.e., no symptoms at all). In some cases, people may cough up small amounts of blood, and in very rare cases, the infection may cause erosion in the lungs or Rasmussen’s aneurysm, leading to severe bleeding. Tuberculosis can be a chronic illness and cause large scars on the upper parts of the lungs. The upper lungs are more susceptible to tuberculosis than the lower ones. The reason for this difference is unclear. It may be due to better airflow, or lymph nodes within the upper lungs.

Conflict of Interest

We have no conflict of interests to disclose and the manuscript has been read and approved by all named authors.

Acknowledgments

The Authors are very thankful and honored to publish this article in the respective Journal and are also very great full to the reviewers for their positive response to this article publication.