World Tuberculosis Day 2022: interesting facts and data about TB

Still known as the disease that kills millions, Tuberculosis or TB, for short, is a bacterial infection caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The infection, if left untreated, can become potentially fatal for the patients.

What was once a very deadly disease is now manageable with advancing technologies and medications in medicine. Nevertheless, the history of tuberculosis had its fair share of highs and lows. During the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, the disease made its resurgence, affecting the immune-compromised patients who have AIDS.

The incidence of TB is under control to an extent, but not completely eradicated yet in the modern world. In addition, there are multiple types of tuberculosis strains coming to surface. The consistently varying strains further make them resistant to the available antitubercular medications available for treatment.

This article will explore more about Tuberculosis, the World Tuberculosis Day in 2022, and some interesting facts about the disease.

When is the World Tuberculosis Day in 2022?

The World Tuberculosis Day in 2022 is on March 24, 2022.

This year, the theme surrounding this day’s celebration is “Invest to End TB. Save Lives.”

Despite the available resources, medications, and treatment options, tuberculosis is still a disease that claims hundreds and thousands of lives each year.

The urgency of the need for more information and investments surrounding this disease is crucial. In addition, people need to urge leaders to reinforce the further commitment to the disease.

Besides awareness and investments, the theme of this year also prioritizes focus on preventive measures and care for TB on a global scale under the guidance of the World Health Organization.

What are some symptoms of Tuberculosis?

Tuberculosis often starts with mild and generic symptoms that people brush aside as simple flu symptoms.

Following are some of the common symptoms worth looking into:

• Persistent coughing that lasts for three weeks and more
• Coughing up blood with phlegm
• Fever
• Loss of appetite
• Chills
• Sudden and unexplained weight loss
• Night sweats
• Sharp chest pain
• Abdominal pain
• Joint pain
• Seizures (in rare cases)
• Headache

Some patients experience a few symptoms, while most patients gradually develop all the symptoms as the infection spreads and progresses.

What are Some Common yet Interesting Facts about Tuberculosis?

Besides affecting someone with the infection, Tuberculosis is also a contagious disease. It is thus, a public health risk, which is why generating awareness is crucial.

Let us look at some of the quick facts about Tuberculosis, the different strains, and the varying treatment options to put things in further perspective.

Facts about the Disease:

• Tuberculosis is, in fact, a contagious disease. Although the degree of spread is not that extensive, it is still a communicable disease with potential transmission risks.
• Without proper treatment, an active infection can spread to up to 15 people in a year.
• Testing options for tuberculosis disease include blood and skin tests. Getting both of these is crucial for active determination and diagnosis of the disease. Testing also analyzes the strain the patient has contracted, allowing better chances of treatment.
• Patients with an active tuberculosis infection need to undergo rigorous antibiotic treatment for four to nine months.
• HIV+ patients are already immunocompromised. So, contracting Tuberculosis on top of that can be fatal for them. Such patients get additional treatment with cotrimoxazole for quicker recovery. The treatment is effective in up to 40% of patients.
• TB patients with multidrug resistance often neglect their medications, which isn’t ideal. However, despite the efficacy, patients should complete the routine course of the medication for beneficial results.
• The incidence of drug-resistant tuberculosis is on the rise. There are primarily two types - Multidrug-Resistant TB (MDR-TB) and Extensively Drug-Resistant TB (XDR-TB).
• Drug-resistant TB is very expensive to treat, especially in patients with severe infections.
• The prevalent TB vaccination, Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG)is not effective against most of the drug-resistant TB infections.

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Historical Facts about the Disease:

• TB and its causative agent, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, have been known by several different names.
• The oldest evidence of tuberculosis and the infectious vector dates back to 9000 years ago, in the Eastern Mediterranean world.
• There are references to tuberculosis mentioned in the Vedas and a few other Hindu scriptures.
• TB was highly romanticized in history, especially in the nineteenth century. Lord Byron, a famous poet, is a leading example of that. Poets and authors back in the day wrote about TB as a “romantic disease.”
• Tuberculosis could be cured with English and French touch during the Middle Ages.
• Several historical figures like King Tutankhamen, John Keats, Emily Bronte, Adolf Hitler, Nelson Mandela, etc. contracted TB.

Statistical Facts about Tuberculosis

• WHO reports that one-third of the world’s population is infected with TB bacteria; however, only a certain percentage develop that into a TB infection.
• TB has a higher fatality rate than HIV, killing up to 5000 people daily.
• The risks of tuberculosis are higher in patients with suppressed or poor immune systems. So, HIV+ positive patients are 30x more at risk of contracting the infection than healthy adults.
• TB is prevalent and more common in children, affecting over 1.1 million children in 2020.
• TB is the 13th leading cause of death worldwide. It is the 2nd leading infectious disease that causes death (after Covid-19).
• With the right TB treatment, around 66 million people were saved between 2000 and 2020.
• TB’s global incidence is now reducing by 2% annually. Admittedly, this is a gradual decrease, but something is better than nothing.
• Out of the 9.9 million total cases of TB in 2020, only 5.8 million were formally diagnosed and treated. The rest, 4.1 million, wasn’t recorded.
• The highest per capita TB infection was recorded in Africa, which accounted for 29% of the global cases.

Conclusion:

On this World Tuberculosis Day, let us pledge to prioritize testing and getting a quicker diagnosis. TB is a fatal disease, if left untreated. So, the next time you suffer from an uncontrollable cough with bleeding, get tested for the infection and rule out every possible complication.

Familiarize, educate and take necessary actions to eradicate the prevalence of Tuberculosis in today’s world.