Why is it difficult to eradicate tuberculosis?

Scientists have assumed that mycobacteria are so hard to kill because dormant cells exist even in patients with active disease and these cells are far less susceptible to antibiotics than metabolically active bacteria.

How was the spread of tuberculosis stopped?

Public Health measures to combat the spread of tuberculosis emerged following the discovery of its bacterial cause. BCG vaccination was widely employed following World War I. The modern era of tuberculosis treatment and control was heralded by the discovery of streptomycin in 1944 and isoniazid in 1952.

Why is tuberculosis becoming increasingly difficult to treat in the 21st century?

Today, treatments for tuberculosis are threatened by the emergence of strains of the disease resistant to multiple lines of drugs.

Has TB been eradicated in us?

2017 data show current declines in U.S. TB cases are too slow to reach TB elimination in this century. The TB rate declined slightly (-2.3\%) from 2016 to 2017 with approximately 2.8 cases per 100,000 persons. A slight decrease in TB cases (-1.6\%) was reported in 2017, decreasing from 9,256 in 2016 to 9,105 in 2017.

Why is TB still a problem in the United States?

Tuberculosis is primarily a socioeconomic problem associated with overcrowding, poor hygiene, lack of fresh water and limited access to health care. The lack of a well organized health care infrastructure for case finding and treatment of tuberculosis complicates disease control in these countries.

Why is tuberculosis resistant to therapeutic treatment?

The main mechanism of development of fluoroquinolone resistance in M. tuberculosis is by chromosomal mutations in the quinolone resistance-determining region of gyrA or gyrB. The most frequent mutations found are at position 90 and 94 of gyrA but mutations at position 74, 88 and 91 have also been reported [78,79].

Is Tuberculosis still a threat?

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), fewer people in the U.S. have Tuberculosis than in past years. However, the disease remains a serious threat for some, especially for people living with AIDS or those who are HIV-positive, and for people with weakened immune systems.

Why did people have to go to a sanatorium for TB?

The rationale for sanatoria in the pre-antibiotic era was that a regimen of rest and good nutrition offered the best chance that the sufferer’s immune system would “wall off” pockets of pulmonary TB infection.