Tag: biology

Latent TB is the condition in which you have a TB infection, but the bacteria remain in your body in an inactive state and cause no symptoms. Latent TB, also called as an inactive TB or TB infection, is not contagious. It can turn into active TB, so treatment is important for the person with latent TB and to help control the spread of TB in general.

Symptoms of active TB can depend on what part of the body has been infected. If active TB occurs in the lungs, the symptoms can include a cough lasting 3 weeks or more, pain in the chest area, breathing difficulty, weight loss, cough that brings blood or mucus, chills, fever, and fatigue. TB can also affect a person's brain, bones, kidneys, or spine.

Chemoprophylaxis is the method of administrating medicines for preventing disease. It is also called as Chemoprevention. Tuberculosis chemoprophylaxis is used to prevent the infection or it is also used to avoid development of disease in a person who is having latent TB. Isoniazid drug is most commonly given as a preventive measure. 

Extrapulmonary TB refers to TB that occurs in areas outside the lungs, such as the lymph nodes, bones, or abdomen, therefore it does not primarily affect the lungs.

Symptoms of active TB can depend on what part of the body has been infected. If active TB occurs in the lungs, the symptoms can include a cough lasting 3 weeks or more, pain in the chest area, breathing difficulty, weight loss, cough that brings blood or mucus, chills, fever, and fatigue. TB can also affect a person's brain, bones, kidneys, or spine.

The most common type of TB in children is pulmonary TB. In about 70 -80% of the children affected by TB, it is pulmonary TB. The rest 20% is non-pulmonary TB. The source of infection for children getting pulmonary TB is inhalation of TB bacteria which generally settles in lungs.

BCG stands for Bacillus Calmette-Guerin. BCG vaccine is given for protection against tuberculosis as a preventive measure. Isoniazid is an antibiotic used as a first-line agent for the prevention and treatment of both latent and active tuberculosis. Ethambutol is used to treat active TB infection along with other tuberculosis medications, such as isoniazid, rifampicin and pyrazinamide. 

The organisms or agents which are responsible for the development of a disease or any infection is known as a pathogen. The ability of the organism to cause disease is pathogenicity. The microbes like the virsues, bacteria, and fungi are known as the pathogens which cause a certain type of infection. 

AIDS (Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) is an infection which is caused by Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The causative agent of the disease is a virus and so the disease can spread from one person to the other by sexual contact. 

The nutrients present in domestic sewage added in a lake will cause the dense growth of microbes, The microbes use oxygen and may deoxygenate the water which may lead to the death of the fish.