Tuberculosis is an infectious disease that may sound very distant due to its low incidence in Spain, but it is still in fact a medical emergency worldwide. On World Tuberculosis Day we talk about this disease, which continues to affect millions of people in Nigeria, India, China, Indonesia, Pakistan and South Africa.
Tuberculosis, a bacterial infectious disease
Tuberculosis is an infection caused by the Mycobacterium tuberculosis germ. This bacterium usually affects the lungs, but can also damage other body tissues. If not treated correctly, this disease can become fatal: in fact, in 2015, almost 2 million people died worldwide from this disease.
The main problem with tuberculosis is that it is easily spread through the air: for example, coughing, sneezing and talking can spread the disease.
The main symptoms of tuberculosis are the following
- Weight loss
- Coughing up mucus or even blood
- Severe cough lasting more than three weeks
- Tiredness and fatigue
- Sweats
- High fever
- Chills
Treatment for tuberculosis is now available, as well as vaccination to prevent it. Thanks to health advances in the treatment of tuberculosis, more than 50 million lives were saved between 2000 and 2016, according to figures from the World Health Organization.
A world without tuberculosis, everyone’s responsibility
Although the incidence of this disease is declining, it remains a major health emergency in the world. More than half of the cases of tuberculosis occur in developing countries, and the highest rate of infection has been recorded in recent years on the Asian continent.
For this reason, organizations such as the WHO stress the importance of working on prevention policies and the distribution of treatment to the areas of the world with the greatest health emergency.
It is also essential to continue working on research and development of treatment and prevention, as well as disseminating information about the disease so that society is aware of its characteristics, risk factors and symptoms.