(Location: California, USA)
Every now and then, the local news & local government announces that a TB case has been identified in the community, and it gives a list of possible locations & times at which people maybe have been exposed to it.
Example: Active TB case identified at X Gym. Possible locations include ABC train route, DEF school, XYZ grocery store…
Why is contact tracing for TB so much more serious than the flu or common cold?
In: Biology
Tuberculosis is a very deadly disease, at one point it was one of the leading causes of death on the planet. Ever read an old book and they talk about “consumption”? That was tuberculosis. Today it is the leading cause of death for people that are HIV+. Tuberculosis is caused by a bacteria and while we have antibiotics that can work on it drug-resistant TB is unfortunately becoming more and more common.
TB is also dangerous because it can go dormant inside your body, it looks like you’re no longer sick, you no longer have symptoms, but the bacteria are still there just waiting for an opportunity to come back with your immune system isn’t working as well, like if you’re sick with something else or receiving treatment for cancer or taking immune-suppression drugs to treat HIV.
So if you’ve been exposed it’s important to know that you may become sick or if you could be an asymptomatic carrier of the disease that could spread it without ever knowing you’re sick.
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