How does mycobacterium tuberculosis survive in macrophages?

Why does Mycobacterium tuberculosis infect a phagocytic cell (macrophage) rather than infecting a cell that is not actively trying to kill it?

The answer to your question is somewhat complicated, but to summarize it: attacking the immune system through the macrophages themselves instead of risking mass slaughter through indirect action changes the potential victory of Mtb.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis

It turns out that the mycobacterium has developed all the necessary equipment to essentially shut down the entire immune system that would otherwise target it, and accomplished this simply by setting up shop within the system's central location. can be accessed, thereby directly accessing it. Its genetic control mechanisms are an incredibly effective (tried and true) defense strategy that has enabled Mtb to remain one of the world's deadliest diseases for thousands of years. has made

Why is BCG produced by Mycobacterium? Bovis and not by Mycobacterium Tuberculosis?

The simple answer is that the bovine strain infects humans, and does not cause disease, and the immune response resulting from this subclinical infection confers protection against human Mtb. This process is sometimes called "generic vaccination", where a pathogen that normally infects another species is used as a vaccine for humans. The prototype, as we all know, is "cowpox" for immunizing humans against smallpox virus infection. I put cowpox in quotations, as you have some evidence that the original immunizing strain may have been "her pox", but this example doesn't matter. There's a good technical article on Wikipedia, but that's the short answer.

What are the recommended methods for identifying Mycobacterium tuberculosis?

identifying Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Here are four:

1. Acid-fast stain of saliva.

2. TB cultures (report may take several weeks).

3. Skin test - indicates the presence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis - but does not *necessarily* mean the presence of the disease.

4. Sputum antibody test - usually indicates active disease.

What type of mycobacterium causes a positive skin test other than Mycobacterium tuberculosis?

Why can Mycobacterium, other than Mycobacterium tuberculosis, cause a positive TB skin test?

The TB skin test is not an antibody test, but a different type of immune test. Cross-reactivity between related bacteria can occur because related microbes often have similar surface antigens.

Test FOR  Mycobacterium tuberculosis

For example, bacteria of the genus Protease have the same antigens as the bug that causes typhus. In World War II (so the story goes), a doctor somewhere in Europe inoculated people in his town with dead Proteus bacteria, then told the Germans that there was typhus in the area. The Germans tested for evidence of typhus infection and decided to avoid the area, as typhus had been known to be a dreaded disease for armies for centuries. Even if this story is not true, it is very good. 

How do beliefs and attitudes affect the treatment and prevention of the spread of tuberculosis?

The answer to this question may be a book or a Ph.D. thesis, but I will tell you one effect that has happened. The patient believes that tuberculosis is a form of demonic possession and not a disease state. So they go to the priest and not to the doctor.

Has tuberculosis been eradicated from the whole world today?

No, it's actually making a comeback, because the duration of treatment is so long that most patients don't finish their antibiotics, then it comes back in a resistant form.

Why is it so hard to make a tuberculosis vaccine that works?

Mycobacterium, such as those that cause tuberculosis and leprosy, have waxy capsules. They protect bacteria from adverse conditions but present few antigens to arm the immune system. For this reason, there is no vaccine against leprosy. Please note that a half-effective TB vaccine is used outside of the US. BCG

Why do they test for tuberculosis?

I did a case study for this at university a few months ago, but I'll touch on it briefly here. Tuberculosis should be tested for because it can remain dormant in the body for years (and by that I mean decades), while the individual remains a carrier, which can cause Mycobacterium in such people. Can spread that immune system, to the elderly. and children. The weakened immunity in these groups, it poses a threat to their health and increases the mortality rate.

Even if the carrier/host remains healthy throughout their life, when they reach an age when their immune system is weakened, they can develop an active infection on their own. In an active infection, Mycobacterium tuberculosis can be detected and attacked by the body, causing infectious material to "spray" into the lungs and form clusters of infection. Mycobacterium tuberculosis can also cause a variety of infections inside the body (outside the lungs). Sometimes they cause scarring of the lung tissue (scar tissue is stiff and inflexible, the opposite of the properties we need in the lungs for gas exchange), so the person may be unable to breathe.

When someone is unable to breathe, and this irreversible scarring process is not detected early, we know that the prognosis for the individual is not optimistic.