Tuberculosis is an old disease with a recorded history of at least 2500 yrs.
The tuberculosis or the T.B is the most important infectious bacterial disease, as it is a leading cause of death in the world. Killing nearly two million people every year globally.
It gave an illusion of being conquered in last 50 years or so. Powerful antibiotics like - streptomycin and isoniazid seemed to contain its growth. But the decline was temporary. The deadly disease has not been conquered. It is spreading fast, across the world, and developed nations are also detecting cases of tuberculosis. People from well to do families, living in comfortable houses, in high-income groups, with professional qualifications, with unlimited access to nutritious food are acquiring the infection and developing into frank cases of tuberculosis.
People with infection of HIV, the AIDS virus, are more likely to develop T.B. Because their immune system is not fully capable to fight infectious organisms like bacteria of T.B.
As the statistical profile of the world shows (http://www.avert.org/worldstats.htm), the number of people in the world living with HIV/AIDS in the year 2004 is about 40 millions and people newly infected with HIV in 2004 is about 5 millions. The AIDS epidemic is spreading to every part of world including the USA, U.K., Australia and Canada, to all sectors of society.
With 13,000 people become infected with HIV every day and one in three of these people with HIV/AIDS are fated to die of TB. Many patients are unaware of their infection and so of the impending doom. Making the condition particularly dangerous as they may keep spreading the HIV and/or tuberculosis.
All the facts put together give a very depressing view of our future. But we will have to make united efforts to overcome the combined menace of T.B. and HIV. As individuals we should take good food regularly, take physical exercise especially the aerobic variety (walking, jogging, swimming, cycling, skipping the rope, surya namaskaras etc.) as these exercises strengthen our immune system, and get to know more about these two diseases so that we can fight them better. We should educate our family, friends and acquaintances even if we appear overzealous or even ludicrous.
At collective levels - trusts, foundations, and government - sustained efforts MUST be made to contain the se diseases. The task is enormous but conquer we must or perish!
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