Tuberculosis is infecting victims at a crisis rate, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Many of the victims of the often-fatal disease are in developing nations, worsening the situation.
The Global Tuberculosis Report 2014 highlights the current state of affairs worldwide in the global fight against the dangerous disease. Investigators found half-a-million more cases of tuberculosis (TB) than estimated prior to the study. Up to three million additional people may be infected with the disease, but remain uncounted in the study because their case was never diagnosed or reported.
"Tuberculosis (TB) remains one of the world's deadliest communicable diseases. In 2013, an estimated 9.0 million people developed TB and 1.5 million died from the disease, 360 000 of whom were HIV-positive. TB is slowly declining each year and it is estimated that 37 million lives were saved between 2000 and 2013 through effective diagnosis and treatment," WHO officials stated in the report.
Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacteria that causes the disease, can be transmitted through droplets of mucus expelled by patients experiencing an active outbreak. Many people carrying the disease-causing organism suffer no effects, as healthy immune systems can isolate the bacteria, preventing them from harming the body.
"The symptoms of active TB of the lung are coughing, sometimes with sputum or blood, chest pains, weakness, weight loss, fever and night sweats. Tuberculosis is treatable with a "six-month course of antibiotics" the World Health Organization reports.
Tuberculosis is usually controlled with one of four drug regimens, involving treatment with antibiotics over six to nine months. Infections worldwide have declined 41 percent since 1990.
Drug-resistant forms of the bacteria have evolved, which now affect 3.5 percent of people infected with the disease. Treatment for those patients is more difficult and expensive than for those with "normal" bacteria.
Nations around the world spend about six billion dollars each year in the fight against the disease. The World Health Organization estimates an additional two billion dollars annually is needed to properly meet current demands, and provide a "full response" to the crisis.
No vaccine is currently available, but 15 different formulations are currently undergoing testing worldwide.
Most unreported cases of TB are in the western Pacific and Southeast Asia. Africa is experiencing the highest infection rate, along with the greatest percentage of fatalities. Medical care is rare and difficult to obtain in many affected areas of Africa, leaving a large percentage of the population without easy access to health services.
"Pharmaceutical industries are less interested in diseases in developing countries where potential gains are limited. As a result, we have a problem (with tuberculosis) because people know that 95 percent of cases are in developing countries," Mario Raviglione, director of WHO's Global Tuberculosis Programme, told the press.
