Tuberculosis disease
Etiology/Bacteriology
Taxonomy
Kingdom: Bacteria
Phylum: Actinobacteria
Class: Actinobacteria
Order: Actinomycetales
Family: Mycobacteriaceae
Genus: Mycobacterium
Species: tuberculosis
Description
Pathogenesis
Transmission
Infectious Dose, Incubation, and Colonization
Epidemiology
Virulence Factors
Clinical Features and Symptoms
There are multiple forms of tuberculosis which is separated into two categories; pulmonary and extrapulmonary tuberculosis. It is important to note due to its slow development, TB symptoms can take months to years to begin. If the tuberculosis bacteria invades the body without causing symptoms it is considered latent, whereas active TB causes symptoms to arise.
Pulmonary TB symptoms include:
- More than three weeks of chronic coughing in which phlegm is present. It is not abnormal for blood to be present in the phlegm
- Shortness of breath, which will continue to worsen as the disease worsens
- Weight loss due to a loss of appetite
- Excessive sweating while sleeping
- Intense lack of energy
- Body aches and pains that have occurred for greater than three weeks
Extrapulmonary TB diseases and symptoms include:
Lymph Node Tuberculosis
- Painless lymph node swelling; any nodes in the body can be affected, but the most common place is the neck
- The constant swelling of the lymph nodes causes the fluid to eventually leak through the barrier of the skin
Skeletal Tuberculosis (Pott’s Disease)
- Painful bones
- The infected bone will begin to weaken and become curved
- Absence of feeling and movement in the diseased bone
- Due to the bone being weakened, it has a high risk of being fractured
Gastrointestinal Tuberculosis
- Diarrhea
- Bleeding from the rectum
- Pain in the abdominal region
Gestrointestional Tuberculosis
- Urethral burning while urinating
- Presence of blood in urine
- Persistent need to urinate
- Aches and pain in the groin
Central Nervous System Tuberculosis
- Presence of headaches
- Brain swelling
- Neck stiffness
- Illness
- Decrease in vision
- Deterioration in mental awareness
- Onset of seizures
Diagnosis
Treatment
Prevention
Host Immune Response
References
1 Conway, Tyrrell. “Genus conway”. “Microbe Wiki” 2013. Volume 1. p. 1-2.