Mimi suffers from tuberculosis in the opera La Boheme, but in reality, there is little that's romantic about the disease.
It is the second-leading cause of death from infection in the world (though not in the United States), says Dr. Richard E. Chaisson, professor of medicine, epidemiology and international health at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and founding director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Tuberculosis Research.
Worldwide, the highest number of TB cases and deaths in recorded history will occur this year, according to Hopkins' Department of Medicine Web site. The increased incidence and the increase in drug-resistant strains of the disease are being fueled, in part, by the spread of HIV/AIDS, which suppress the immune system.
What is tuberculosis?
Tuberculosis is a disease caused by a bug called Mycobacterium tuberculosis that has been around for many centuries and can affect any part of the body. Tuberculosis, or TB, can spread to other parts of the body, such as lymph nodes, brain, spinal cord, bones, kidneys and virtually any other part of the body. But it primarily affects the lungs and causes a form of chronic pneumonia that, left untreated, can be fatal.
What are the symptoms of tuberculosis?
Most people who have TB experience a cough and, many times, this cough produces sputum that has blood in it. It also frequently causes chest pain, weight loss, fever and a general feeling of malaise or being unwell.
Depending upon whether other parts of the body are involved, the patient also may have symptoms related to those sites, like headache or back pain, or passing blood in the urine.
How common is this disease?
Well, tuberculosis is the second-leading cause of death by infection in the world, and in many parts of the world, the rates are very high. Here in the United States, the incidence has gone down dramatically over the last 15 years; currently, we are at our lowest rates ever in this country, at about five cases per 100,000 population. The world average is about 130 per 100,000.
Half of the cases of TB that occur in the U.S. occur in people who were born elsewhere and have moved here.
What about globally?
Worldwide, TB is a huge problem. Rates in Africa have more than tripled in the past 15 years, and rates in Eastern Europe have doubled. In Asia and Latin America, the rates are high but stable, or even slightly declining.
How is it spread?
