Mauricio Chavez

Professor S. Blystone

English 0311 TR 9:00 - 10:20

5 March 2013 Tuberculosis

What do you know about Tuberculosis? Did you know TB is one of the highest

active diseases here in El Paso? Sit back and ask to yourself, have you ever actually

thought about Tuberculosis? What are its symptoms, and what may it cause? Did you

know there are UTEP students active with TB? Maybe some of you have experienced it

for yourself or because of a family member or somebody close to you, but what about

those that have never even heard of it? Tuberculosis is a very contagious disease, and

a very deadly disease, but with a cure if it’s treated on time.

Tuberculosis is a bacterial disease that for the most part affects the lungs. It is

caused by the bacteria known under the name Mycobacterium Tuberculosis. This

bacteria is spread through different ways, such as: sneezing, singing, coughing and

other ways it can spread along, from an infected person to another person.

That’s why most cases of being infected with TB is with relatives or family members.

When a person breathes in TB bacteria, the bacteria can settle into the lungs and begin

to grow. Before discoveries of some antibiotic drugs back in the 1940s, TB was one of

the leading causes of death in the United States. TB is a disease that is not really as

common in the U.S. as it is in other much poor countries or border cities such as El

Paso, but it has been increasing in the most recent years due to HIV, AIDS, as well as

other drug resistant forms of TB. Up to one third of the world's population may be

infected with TB, though the infection may not be active, which just means having the

bacteria inside of you but not in an active form.

Doctors usually distinguish between inactive infection, where you have the

disease but no symptoms and you are not contagious, and an active infection, which is

the opposite of inactive. After you are infected, your immune system will attack the

bacteria causing one of the three scenarios, your body may kill the bacteria, the bacteria

may remain in your body but not cause an active infection, or you may develop the

disease. While lung infection is the most common infection of TB, it can also attack

other part of your body, such as the brain and spine. Finally, TB bacteria may cause

symptoms such as: Mild fever, headache, chills, night sweats, malaise, fatigue, loss of

appetite, weight loss, cough with or without mucus and pus, coughing up blood, chest

pain from pleurisy, difficulty of breathing, swollen glands, and sore throat.

Even though it’s a disease that can cause death it is a disease that is curable if

it’s detected in time. Being a border city and having more contact with people of two

countries there are more medical clinics that specialize in Tuberculosis cases. There are

many ways to get help, such as clinics