Source: Pudong Disease Control U Health
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="6" > Millennium Plague: Tuberculosis</h1>
Tuberculosis may be older than ordinary people can imagine, and "it" may have appeared when human beings were born...
Bartels found evidence of spinal tuberculosis in Neolithic archaeological data from 5000-10000 BC; Smith found spinal tuberculosis in the mummies of the 24th Dynasty of Egypt; the "Zhou Gong Value Fin" and "Fu ShuoBei" in ancient Chinese books refer to spinal tuberculosis...
The culprit of this disease is actually a small bacterium, Mycobacterium tuberculosis (discovered by Koch on March 24, 1882), which can cause tuberculosis in human organs other than hair and teeth, but tuberculosis is the largest, accounting for about 70%-80%.
This bacterium can survive in a dry environment for 6-8 months, is not heat-resistant, and can be killed at high temperatures. Boil for 10 min to sterilize. Sensitive to sunlight and ultraviolet rays, it can be killed in 2-7h, and 70-75% ethanol is preferred.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="55" > have humans eliminated tuberculosis for thousands of years? </h1>
Unfortunately, no. Not only has it not been eradicated, but TB is still raging around the world.
According to the Global Tb Report 2020, in 2019, there were about 9.96 million new TB patients worldwide, and the TB incidence rate was 130/100 000, which has remained at the same level in recent years. About 1.4 million people died from TB in 2019. The estimated number of new cases of TB in China is 833 000 (866 000 in 2018).
Number of new patients in 30 high-burden TB countries
This accounts for 86% of the global patient population.
India (26%)
Indonesia (8.5%)
China (8.4%)
Philippines (6.0%)
Pakistan (5.7%)
Nigeria (4.4%)
Bangladesh (3.6%)
South Africa (3.6%)
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="59" > drug-resistant, and tuberculosis tug-of-war</h1>
In the millennium battle against tuberculosis, humanity has invented an important weapon - drug treatment. At present, the means of treating tuberculosis are mainly based on chemotherapy, and follow the principle of "early, regular, whole, combined and appropriate". At present, the global success rate of tuberculosis treatment is about 85%, and the success rate of tuberculosis treatment in China is about 93%.
The first-line anti-tuberculosis drugs currently used are: rifampicin, isoniazid, pyrazinamide, and ethylamine. These drugs are relatively old, and if you have time to search online, you will find that it may be beyond your and my age. It is precisely because of the high age of the drug that the cunning Mycobacterium tuberculosis has gradually developed drug resistance, single resistance, multi-resistance, multi-drug resistance, extensive drug resistance, super drug resistance... This has put a huge strain on eliminating TB, and the COVID-19 pandemic since 2020 has added a lot of uncertainty to the goal of eliminating TB by 2035. With the research and development of drugs, some new drugs have been applied in the field of anti-tuberculosis in recent years, and the flame of hope has been ignited.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="60" > vaccine prevention and fight a defensive battle</h1>
In addition to snatching people from the hands of the disease, humans have also developed vaccines, aiming to take the initiative and fight a defensive war.
Bcgware (BCG)
It began to be used in populations as early as 1921, and in 2017 158 countries worldwide reported bcgy vaccination of children, of which 120 reported vaccination coverage of more than 90%.
BCG vaccine is used to prevent tuberculosis meningitis and disseminated tuberculosis in infants and young children. The preventive effect is more than 80% in the first 5 years, and 67% at 15-24 years. As for the effectiveness of adult prevention, it has been controversial, and most people believe that there is no high protection rate. A TB vaccine for adults is not currently officially available.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="61" > human VS tuberculosis, where will it go in the future? </h1>
Humans have been fighting tb for thousands of years and have won some victories, with London, for example, having a TB mortality rate of 900/100,000 in the 18th century and later falling to about 16/100,000. This fight is expected to continue for some time, although the process is not easy, but Xiao U believes that one day in the future, tuberculosis will eventually be eliminated, which requires the joint efforts of the whole world. In the period of struggle against the disease, everyone must:
1. Develop good hygiene habits, wash your hands frequently, cough and sneeze to cover your mouth and nose, and do not spit on the ground.
2. Strengthen exercise and strengthen the body.
3. Timely diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis patients, and avoid going to crowd gathering places during the infection period and wearing masks when going out.
The fight against tuberculosis can only be eliminated if all countries work together to fight it. To this end, in late September 2018, the United Nations General Assembly held a special session: the United Nations High-level Meeting on Tuberculosis Control. It is hoped that all countries around the world will pay attention to tuberculosis prevention and control, step in step to fight tuberculosis, and achieve the ultimate goal of ending tuberculosis.
But it will take time...
In the stalemate stage, we must find tuberculosis patients as early as possible, treat them as early as possible, develop new anti-tuberculosis drugs, improve treatment methods to reduce tuberculosis mortality, and develop new vaccines to prevent the onset of disease. At the same time, health education should be strengthened, and the public's knowledge of tuberculosis prevention and treatment should be improved, health awareness should be improved, and good hygiene habits should be developed.
This article represents only the personal views of the author