TUBERCULOSIS

Instructor: Anna Barral, PhD.

Course: BIO 152-
Cuyamaca College
Bench # 6:
 Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Complex
 The Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex of
organisms consists of the following species:
– Mycobacterium tuberculosis
– Mycobacterium africanum
– Mycobacterium bovis
– Mycobacterium microti
 The last three are now considered to be sub-
species of M. tuberculosis
 M. tuberculosis is an obligate pathogen and can
infect a wide variety of animals. Man is the
principal host
Mycobacterium Tuberculosis
Kingdom: Bacteria
Phylum: Actinobacteria
Order: Actinomycetales
Suborder: Corynebacterineae
Family: Mycobacteriaceae
Genus: Mycobacterium
Species: M. tuberculosis
Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
Acid-fast stain. CDC.
 History
 Tuberculosis dates back to at least 4000
BC and was present in ancient Egypt,
Greece, Rome, and India.
 Known as consumption, it was
responsible for one in five deaths in 17th
century London.
 In 1882, Robert Koch discovered the
tubercle bacillus.
 In the US
 By 20th century > 80% of the population
in the United States were infected
before age 20, and tuberculosis was the
single most common cause of death.
 By 1938 there were more than 700 TB
 hospitals in this country.
description of the disease: Reservoir
 Mode of transmission
Spreads through the
air when a person with
active TB
Coughs
Speaks
Laughs
Sneezes
Sings
Another person
breathes in the bacteria
and becomes infected
Clinical symptoms
 Cough (2-3 weeks or more)
 Coughing up blood
 Fever
 Weight loss
 Night sweats
 Loss of appetite
 Fatigue, feeling
f weak and tired
 Swollen glands
 Chills
 Chest pain
 TB outside the lungs, might have other
symptoms
 Diagnosis
 Clinical symptoms
 Physical exam
 Skin test- Mantoux test
 PPD injected in forearm and examined 2-3
days later
 Red welt around injection indicates infection
 Differential dx. Active TB vs TB infection
(latent TB)
 Chest X-Ray, sputum smear, culture, PCR.
Diagnosis
 Treatment
A person with active TB disease has a large
amount of TB bacteria in the body. TB
disease can be treated by taking several
drugs for 6 to 12 months.
Regiments for treating TB have an initial
phase of 2 months, followed by a choice
of several options for the continuation
phase of either 4 or 7 months
Treatment
Recommended Regiment
There are 10 drugs currently approved by the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the
treatment of Tuberculosis. Of the approved drugs,
the first line anti-TB agents include:

 Isoniazid (INH)
 Rifampin (RIF)
 Ethambutol (EMB)
 Pyrazinamide (PZA)
Epidemiology : prevalence, data of
interest if possible, if existing
Prevention - Vaccination
Any additional information,
interesting/current stories.
References:
 http://www.textbookofbacteriology.net/tub
erculosis_2.html

 Medical Microbiology, Jawetz, Melnick &

Adelberg’s 24th Edition.
08 Feb 2001. A Brief History of Tuberculosis.
NJMS National Tuberculosis Center.  12
Oct 2004
<http://www.umdnj.edu/ntbcweb/history.html>
.
References
 http://cdc.gov/tb/topic/treatment/defa
ult.htm