TB in Hong Kong: Types, Effects, Prevention and Control

RUNNING HEAD: PRINCIPLES OF INFECTION PREVENTION AND CONTROL
PRINCIPLES OF INFECTION PREVENTION AND CONTROL
TB in Hong Kong

TB in Hong Kong 1
Tuberculosis is a disease which generally affects the lungs and other parts of the body. It is an
airborne disease which transfers from person to person with the medium of air. When a person is
suffering from TB, he/she coughs, sneezes or talks and micro-bacteria (mycobacterium
tuberculosis) are transferred (Batt, 2014). When the other person breathes the same air then there
is a high chance that the person will be infected. In this essay, the disease tuberculosis is further
discussed along with its types, effects, global picture, seriousness, prevention, etc. Also, the
effects of TB are discussed in the case of Hong Kong.
TB can be either Latent TB or Active TB. There is a huge difference between the latent TB and
Clinically active TB. People who have strong immune system do not usually get sick because
they have the ability to fight against bacteria which is known as latent TB (WebMD, 2016).
Active TB is when a person who is suffering from TB disease gets sick and spreads the disease.
Usually, those person needs to be treated well by a doctor. They have low immune system
because of which they easily get sick and their body cannot fight with the germs. The people
who are suffering from Active TB must take preventive measures and follow the guidelines
prescribed by doctor. Active TB is the result of the activation of primary lesions that have been
previously healed. Its activation may occur due to the decline in body defenses with the
increasing age of the patient or acquisition of other diseases leading to weakening of the immune
system.
Latent TB is generally witnessed in a person who has not earlier been exposed to TB bacillus.
After the person inhales the droplet nuclei, the bacillus is passed through the upper airways and
is implanted in the area which is rich in oxygenation such as the upper range of lower lobes or
the apices of lungs. After the implantation of bacillus, macrophages are engulfed into it. The
mixture of macrophages and bacillus results into a gray –white granulomatous lesion which is
known as Ghon focus. When the lesion’s center becomes necrotic, it ends up draining into the
lung lymph system and results in creating caseous granulomas. The fusion of lymph node
granulomas and primary lung lesion is known as Ghon complex. The body responds in a
hypersensitive manner to the Ghon complex is for walling off the bacillus. After that the patient
remains asymptomatic (Aschenbrenner & Venable, 2009).
TB is one of the highly contagious infections caused by bacteria which spread quickly if not
treated in time. Since TB is an airborne disease, it spreads when a person breathes in the air

TB in Hong Kong 2
which contaminated by an infected person through sneezing, coughing, breathing, singing or
talking. The TB causing germs from the infected persons are transferred into the air and when a
person breathes in those germs, he also gets infected. TB is usually transferred through family
members, and the person who work together who are already holding the disease. TB is also
transferred in closed spaces during a long interval of time (CDC, 2018) However, it is not
necessary that everyone who breathes in those bacteria ends up with a tuberculosis infection.
Drug resistance has been developed by some of the strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis which
has resulted in difficulties in its treatment. If TB is not treated in time, it can lead to severe
effects on the health of the individual such as lung damage and death, meningitis, arthritis and
military TB. TB infection results in severely damaging the lungs which can further lead to
severe coughing with blood, chest pain, wheezing and difficulty in breathing. TB may also cause
fatigue, fever and unintentional chest pain. In case, if TB is not treated in time, it may cause
severe damage to the lungs which can lead to difficulty in breathing ultimately leading to death.
Sometimes meningitis is caused as a result of spreading of TB infection to the brain. Infection in
the brain thus leads to effects like loss of appetite, fever, periods of lost consciousness, etc. TB
meningitis patients also suffer from vomiting, severe nausea, neck stiffness, severe headache and
light sensitivity. If TB meningitis is not treated in time, it can lead to muscle paralysis, frequent
seizures, abnormal behavior and impaired mental function.
Sometimes, TB infection is spread to the joints including ankles, wrists, hips, knees, spine, etc.
and causes TB arthritis. When a joint is affected, it suffers from tenderness, stiffness, swelling
and reduced range of motion. Excessive sweating and fever is also caused due to TB arthritis.
Spasms are experienced by the muscles surrounding the joints which atrophy over time.
Numbness, tingling or weakness is experiences by the body parts below the affected joint. In
case of military TB, entire body suffers from TB infection. This type of infection occurs in
individuals having weak immune system such as patients of HIV. All the parts of the body is
infected due to spreading of bacteria through lymph system and bloodstream resulting in
symptoms of fever, ill feeling, weight loss, chills, weakness, anemia and difficulty in breathing.
If a person is suffering from active TB, it states that the bacteria of TB develop into numbers and
one bacteria is multiplied into numbers. It attacks the lungs and other parts such as lymph nodes,

TB in Hong Kong 3
bones, kidney, brain, spine and sometimes the skin too. When the infection has reached the
lungs, then the bacteria is moved through blood to other parts of the body and is spread in the
entire body. When a person is suffering from active TB, it include symptoms like cough, weight
loss, fever, sweating and some dysfunctional in the affected body parts (Wilson, 2006)
For example, if the person is suffering from TB in lungs, then he/she will cough with blood or
sputum and likewise, if he/she is suffering from TB in bone, then pain in the bones will be felt
(Sutherland and Ota, 2010).
In the year 2016, 10.4 million people were estimated to fall ill with TB and the disease resulted
in the death of 1.7 million people (including 0.4 million among people with HIV). Moreover, in
the year 2016, approximately 1 million children fell ill due to TB and nearly 250,000 children
died of TB (World Health Organization, 2018).
TB has a serious impact over health. It may sometimes lead to death of it is not treated well. TB
patients usually coughs, sneezes and they have chest pain and bloody mucus. It must be treated
right at the moment whenever these symptoms are seen because if it is not treated properly then
it can be more fatal and a person may even die. Many people believe that TB is a disease which
was introduced in past but it have a severe effect on the present and have contributed to create a
threat among the public across the entire globe.
One third of the world population is infected from TB and most of them are suffering from latent
TB which means they have germs in their body but they do not have strong immune system that
can fight with those germs and protect them. Nevertheless, more than 9.6 million of the people
are suffering from active TB which means they have high degree of symptoms of TB
(Raviglione & Sulis, 2016).
If a person is suffering from the latent TB, then it can easily be cured by adopting preventive
therapy sessions under the supervision of doctor. The germs can be killed easily. One of the
widely used therapy is a daily dose of medicine isoniazid (INH) that must be taken for 6-9
months. If one will take the medicine as prescribed by the doctor, then it can easily be cured.
BCG is a vaccine that cures TB. It is commonly used in foreign countries where there is high rate
of TB patients (Desvignes, Wolf and Ernst, 2012). It can easily be cured when proper care is