Epidemiology - Tuberculosis | Australia and Peru

Running head: EPIDEMIOLOGY
TUBERCULOSIS- AUSTRALIA AND PERU
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

EPIDEMIOLOGY1
Table of Contents
Answer 1....................................................................................................................................2
Answer 2....................................................................................................................................3
References..................................................................................................................................5

EPIDEMIOLOGY2
Answer 1
To answer the incidence and prevalence rate of tuberculosis on both the countries, the
definitions need to be clear to all. The main difference between the two is that the prevalence
of a disease is the number of cases in the given population (Australia or Peru) at a given time.
This factor is not just a measure of the occurrence of tuberculosis for new cases. On the other
hand, an incidence rate provides a piece of information about the risk of diseases contraction.
Thus, it can be stated that prevalence indicates the measure of widespread of a disease
whereas incidence gives the measure of the risk of contraction (Glaziou, Floyd & Raviglione,
(2018).
Tuberculosis is caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, a bacteria which affects the
lungs. This disorder is curable and preventable by the administration of appropriate
vaccination at the right time. In Australia, the incidence of tuberculosis has been recorded to
be 6.6 for 1000,000 people in 2018 (Yao et al., 2018). This data was produced by the World
Bank collection of development indicators which collected data from official and recognized
sources of Australia. This incidence rate was observed to be lowest in the year 2008 followed
by being the highest at 2010 and decreasing up to 2016 (Yao et al., 2018). However, in 2018
this disease reached a high incidence rate due to the exposure of people to substance abuse
and respiratory disorders in Australia. On the other hand, Peru holds the rank for highest
incidence per capita of tuberculosis occurring in the Americas. According to various research
studies, it has been observed that Peru is also known for the occurrence of virulent multi-drug
resistant tuberculosis. The incidence rate has been calculated to be around 2300 patients per
year which equivalents to 35% cases and 75% cases for 100 patients per year for extensively
drug-resistant variants (García et al., 2018).