Tuberculosis Treatment Update: Infectious Disease Continues to Plague Latin America, Other Regions

Salud is a Latin Post feature series that examines Latino health trends and focuses on health and wellness topics

More than a 1.5 million people die (equaling one death every 21 seconds) as result of tuberculosis each year. Yet, many believe that tuberculosis is a disease of the past.

Phthisis pulmonalis, better known as consumption or tuberculosis, is a widespread and infectious disease caused by a bacterium called mycobacterium tuberculosis. The historically devastating disease isn't nearly as damning as it once was, thanks to medical advances; however, tuberculosis is still quite deadly if left untreated, and it still remains a major global health problem.

The insidious disease can spread through the air, from one person to another. Worldwide, tuberculosis is the second leading cause of death from an infectious disease, only succeeded by the incurable human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which can lead to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, or AIDS. In the Caribbean region, alone, more than 30,000 new cases of tuberculosis occur annually. According to the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), control has been slow there, and treating threats to public health is made more difficult by limited treatment success, shortages of laboratory capacity and infrequent program funding.

That said, outbreaks and incidences are not unique to the Caribbean region. Surveillance and monitoring has proven tuberculosis is a world issue that must be prioritized, even if it isn't as severe as it once was.

Tuberculosis ravaged 18th century Europe, and during the 1900s, tuberculosis killed one out of every seven people living in the U.S. and Europe. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 9,412 new tuberculosis cases were reported in the United States in 2014. Tuberculosis cases have decrease among U.S.-born and foreign-born individuals, but incidences are still occurring.

Compared to non-Hispanic whites, the occurrence rate among Asians is 28.5 times higher and eight times higher for non-Hispanic blacks and Hispanics. The rate for foreign-born individuals is 13.4 times that of U.S.-born person, and 76 percent of Hispanics infected are foreign-born.

Tuberculosis is very common in homeless shelters, migrant farm camps, drug treatment centers, health care clinics, jails and prisons. It is also very common in Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, and Russia.

Even with vaccinations and testing, multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR TB) remains a concern, and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR TB) has become an important issue. Also, latent tuberculosis infection can pose a silent threat, whereby a bacterium is inactive, but alive in the body, and can later become active. Also, another important concern related to tuberculosis involves HIV. Exposure to, or the contraction of, the HIV infection increases the likeliness that one may become infected with latent tuberculosis because of a weakened immune system. Therefore, all individuals with HIV should get tested for latent tuberculosis, and seek treatment to prevent the formation of tuberculosis disease in the body.

Blood-tinged sputum, fevers, night sweats, nausea, a shrinking appetite, yellow skin or hands, and weight loss are tell-tale signs that the one has contracted tuberculosis. However, the World Health Organization has developed a post-2015 plan to lessen the occurrence of such symptoms as a result of tuberculosis. Their overall goal is to reduce tuberculosis deaths by 95 percent by 2035, and to reduce tuberculosis incidence by 90 percent. By 2050, they expect that tuberculosis will be totally eliminated as a public health concern.

The Global Forum on TB Vaccines, which will be held in Shanghai, China this year on April 21-24, is an international conference that invites researchers, pharmaceutical companies, advocates, government officials and stakeholders, and they're interested in the production of new and effective vaccines. The fourth Global Forum poses a unique opportunity for like-minded people to focus on tuberculosis vaccine research, clinical trials, manufacturing, access and advocacy. In the past, the forums were held in Switzerland, Estonia and South Africa.

Tuberculosis can be prevented and treated, even in individuals with HIV infection. And Tuberculosis Vaccine Initiative (TBVI), an independent nonprofit organization that supports an integrated network of over 50 universities, institutes and industries, has already produced promising vaccine discoveries, which they intend to make globally accessible and affordable. Presently, Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) is the most widely recognized vaccine for tuberculosis disease; however it isn't widely used in the U.S. Tuberculosis testing, or the tuberculin skin test, is required for U.S. students, as well as educators and health care professional.

To learn more about tuberculosis, read up on important facts and learn about testing.