Communicable Diseases Nursing Assignment
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Added on 2020-04-29
Communicable Diseases Nursing Assignment
Added on 2020-04-29
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Running head: COMMUNICABLE DISEASES1Communicable DiseasesStudent’s NameDate of Submission
COMMUNICABLE DISEASES2Introduction Multidrug resistant mycobacteria infections have been the biggest challenge inmicrobiology and health sector. Generally, tuberculosis is a highly infectious disease caused byseveral species of mycobacteria, specifically the Mycobacterium tuberculosis. This conditioncauses many deaths because it majorly infects the respiratory system as well as many othertissues like skin, kidneys and bones in advanced stages (Lange et al., 2014). Tuberculosis islinked to many loss of lives annually via tuberculosis or tuberculosis-linked body conditions. Thespread of multi drug resistant tuberculosis occurs by being spread from infected carriers (eitherin active or latent mode) to uninfected persons through the air. There have been high number ofmortalities as a result of mycobacterium tuberculosis infection because there are some peoplewho have no symptoms for this condition hence do not initiate treatment early enough. At thisstage, there is a need for the early medication to be initiated following the positive testing bythese subjects. According to Yuen et al., 2015, bearing in mind the complexity ofmycobacterium species, when giving medication (specifically the antibiotics) to the patients. Abig challenge however which faces the treatment process of tuberculosis is the emergence ofmultidrug resistant tuberculosis strains. These strains of mycobacterium undergo several roundsof mutations from time to time and hence they cannot respond to first line drugs. This challengeis faced and felt by all stakeholders including the health practitioners, communities and thegovernment and hence the need for being addressed with due urgency (Meumann et al., 2015).Therefore, this essay explores the problems of facing the treatment of bacterial infections withfocus on multidrug resistance in tuberculosis in Australia.
COMMUNICABLE DISEASES3Epidemiology The mycobacterium pathogen is passed from a person who is infected to uninfectedperson through sneezing and coughing, behaviors which spread pathogen droplets into the air.The pathogen is ingested by a healthy person leading to the initial infection with tuberculosis,where the pathogen spreads to several parts of the body under host immune system regulation(Trauer & Cheng, 2016). The infection with tuberculosis pathogen occurs in two steps. The firstone is the latent step when the body is in a state of carrying the pathogen. The second one is theactive step, where the body is unable to suppress the pathogen anymore because it is too weak.The transmission of tuberculosis pathogens occurs shortly following the patient exposuer to theactive form of tuberculosis. The mycobacteria cannot be transmitted through some behaviors likesharing clothes, and bedding. This is because such pathogens die when they land on dry surfaces,as opposed to moist surfaces that they prefer in the breathing system.When the mycobacterium infectious particles are inhaled into an uninfected individual,the particle moves to the respiratory tract and lands in the alveoli. The alveoli are critical in theexchange of oxygen between the lungs, the blood and other tissues. As Subramani et al., 2017states, although the immune system fights diseases, mycobacterium tuberculosis have cell wallsthat offer them protection hence they evade the immune response and are not destroyed. Duringnormal host invasion by pathogens, macrophages are the immune cells which surround, engulfand destroy the pathogen using innate immunological mechanisms. In case a patient previouslyinfected by another pathogen, like HIV gets exposed to mycobacterium tuberculosis, thepathogen overwhelms the immune cells and makes the body weaker than it was initially. Activetuberculosis infection causes a widespread distribution of the pathogen from the initial site ofinfection, that is the alveoli, and spreads out into the blood circulation and lymphatic system. As
COMMUNICABLE DISEASES4Jenkins et al., 2014 reports, in the process, other several tissues in the body like the skin,kidneys, bones, and reproductive system become infected increasing the pathogen load in thehost. The most commonly observed signs and symptoms in patients at active step of tuberculosisinfection may include weight loss, reduced appetite and fever among other signs. However, it issurprising that there are some patients who are asymptomatic. As the patient sneeze and cough,they spread the infectious materials of Mycobacterium tuberculosis into the tissues, and hencemore destruction of the lungs. Screening of mycobacterium tuberculosisAccording to Xu et al., 2017, Mycobacterium tuberculosis which is in latent step can betested using several methods to help in early diagnosis and hence initiate early treatment.Mantoux test is able to detect tuberculosis infections as early as at two months followingpathogenic infection. Mantoux or skin test involves the injection of a chemical into the skin ofthe forearm. If the patient develops a red wilt at the point of injection on the skin layers, then thepatient is infected by mycobacterium tuberculosis pathogens. However, using the Mantoux test,it’s not possible to determine the stage of infection, that is, whether it is in latent or active step(Fox et al., 2017). Some other screening methods that can be used are x rays, and acid factstaining, which are commonly used in hospitals. The multi-drug resistance tuberculosisHaving a clear understanding of the infection, diagnosis, treatment and control oftuberculosis bacteria is very important. The mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria contain uniquefeatures from other bacteria types which makes its pathogenesis to be of special concern asargued by Kendall et al., 2017. For instance, these bacteria have high levels of lipids in their cellwall making them to resist cell wall degradation by antibiotics. The most commonly and
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