Tuberculosis is one of the respiratory diseases that has currently affecting many individuals. This condition mainly attacks the lungs of the patient. The disease is highly infectious in the sense that it can easily spread from a healthy to an unhealthy individual via tiny infected droplets found in coughs and sneezes (World Health Organization, 2013). It is imperative that individuals who have been affected by this condition take a variety of medication in their treatment regimen with the intentions of solving it satisfactorily.
Description
The causative agent for TB is a bacteria referred to as Mycobacterium tuberculosis which is spread in the form of small droplets from an infected person to a healthy person. Modes of transmission include: speaking, singing, coughing, sneezing and laughing. It is however important to note that individuals that have received TB treatment for at least two weeks have got lessened chances of spreading the disease to another person, a point to note is that, whereas the primary parts that are affected by the disease are the lungs, there are other body parts like the nervous system, bones and glands that can be affected by TB. The symptoms associated with this condition will vary depending on the kind of TB that an individual has (World Health Organization, 2013). There are two forms of TB namely latent and active TB. Latent TB usually stays in the body of the infected individual in an inactive form thereby showing no symptoms. This type of TB is not contagious. Active TB, on the contrary, spreads easily and can make the individual appear sickly within the shortest period of time.
Demographics of interest
According to the National Tuberculosis Surveillance System, the incidences of TB were stuck at 3 cases for every 100,000 persons. Foreigners in the United States have shown higher incidences of the disease compared to the US- born citizens with the rates standing at 13 times more in comparison between the two groups (CDC, 2015). Data from the CDC indicate that California, Florida, New York and Texas were the worst hit states in the United States in the period of 2014 to 2015 with the incidence rates standing at 4839 cases. Of all the 9,563 TB cases reported throughout the country last year, 33.5% of the total which represents 3201 cases were reported in persons who were born in the United States. The remaining 6335 cases were reported on the foreign-born United States citizens. These numbers indicate that the prevalence rates stood at 15.1 in every 100,000 persons (CDC, 2016). The Asians made up the highest number of foreign-born persons with the condition with the total number standing at 3007 cases. From theses prevalence rates, it is imperative that the global TB burden needs to be addressed bearing in mind that more foreign-based TB patients should include in the program.
TB and determinants of health
Determinants of health refer to personal, economic, social and environmental factors that will dictate the ease with which an individual can contract a particular disease. Such factors are broken down into policies, social factors, individual behaviors, health services, and finally biology and genetics.
On policy making matters, there is the need for having in place laws that guide the usage of tobacco by individual with the view of controlling the susceptibility of these persons to be the disease. The responsible powers that be can, for example, increase the taxation on such products to discourage people from buying them. Social factors refer to the way that individual live in the society and the ease of interaction. In this direction, the more concentrated people are in a particular locality, the easy it is for the disease to spread (Healthy People 2020, 2016). Additionally, factors like poverty levels are also likely to have negative outcomes on the management of the condition since it becomes challenging to afford the required medication to solve these problems. Additionally, if individuals are not exposed to the media and other forms of communication, it becomes tough to get the required information for addressing the condition at hand. Access to health services also plays a crucial role in addressing TB. An example of this situation is whereby an individual does not have an insurance cover making it tough for them to access preventive care thereby having profound effects on their health status. On individual behaviors, it is a person’s lifestyle that determines the ease with which they can contract particular diseases. In TB, if the individual is an ardent smoker, chances of them contacting the disease are high (Healthy People 2020, 2016). As such, smoking cessation is an important factor in eradicating TB. From a biological and genetic perspective, it is evident that older individuals are more likely to have adverse outcomes as a result of the disease compared to younger persons. The elderly have got weakened immune systems and as such, when attacked with TB, chances are that they can be easily put down by the condition.
Epidemiological triangle
Since TB is an infectious disease, it means that it may move from one person to another through mediums that make the process easy. It is important to have a better understanding of the disease in terms of how it moves from one person to address them effectively. The agent, the host and the environment form the basis of the epidemiological triangle for TB. The agent involved in TB is the bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The host factors are specifically found in an individual who has got weakened immune systems, has got poor nutrition, is a user of tobacco and any products associated with tobacco (CDC, 2015). The environmental factors that will predispose a person to this condition include individuals staying in crowded conditions, poor sanitation around the places that people live and poor ventilation. Such conditions make it easy for the condition to be spread from one person to another.
The community nurses play important roles in addressing this problem in the community through the efforts that they put in place to address the matter at hand. These care providers are tasked with organizing workshops and seminars whereby patients, their families and community members, in general, are educated on the strategies they need to put in place to effectively deal with this condition (Maurer & Smith, 2013). Secondly, community health nurses carry out surveys that are crucial in determining the intensity of the condition so as to develop plans to address it. Thirdly, they are also involved in conducting screenings to prevent the disease from spreading to other healthy individuals. Finally, the role of providing care to patients affected by the disease is given to community healthcare workers.
The National Tuberculosis Controllers Association is tasked with ensuring that TB is addressed in the country from the state to the federal level. This organization is advocates and advances activities aimed at eliminating TB in the country. It also advises other organizations at the state and federal level on how to address the disease in the community in which they operate in (NTCA, 2015). Finally, it takes part in advocating for legislations aimed at advancing TB control in the country.
References
CDC. (2015). Tuberculosis Trends — United States, 2014. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6410a2.htm
CDC. (2015). Understanding the Epidemiologic Triangle through Infectious Disease. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/bam/teachers/documents/epi_1_triangle.pdf
CDC. (2016). Leveling of Tuberculosis Incidence — United States, 2013–2015 | MMWR. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/65/wr/mm6511a2.htm?s_cid=mm6511a2_w
Healthy People 2020. (2016). Determinants of Health | Healthy People 2020. Retrieved from https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/about/foundation-health-measures/Determinants-of-Health#top
Maurer, F. A., & Smith, C. M. (2013). Community/public health nursing practice: Health for families and populations. Elsevier Health Sciences.
NTCA. (2015). NTCA | National Tuberculosis Controllers Association. Retrieved from http://www.tbcontrollers.org/ntca-2/#.Vvy1GdJ97Df
World Health Organization. (2013). Tuberculosis. Saudi Medical Journal,34(11), 1205-1207.
