Get Tuberculosis - Leeds, Grenville And Lanark District Health Unit

Diagnosis of tuberculosis was aided by discovery of the acid-fast nature of the bacillus by Ehrlich in 1882, discovery of X rays by Roentgen in 1895, development of the tuberculin skin test by Von Pirquet and Mantoux in 1907-1908, and preparation of purified protein derivative (PPD) of tuberculin by Seibert in 1931.

In 1882, Prussian physician Robert Koch utilized a new staining method and applied it to the sputum of tuberculosis patients, revealing for the first time the causal agent of the disease: Mycobacterium tuberculosis, or Koch's bacillus.

In 1907, Clemens von Pirquet developed a skin test that put a small amount of tuberculin under the skin and measured the body's reaction. Pirquet also invented the term “latent TB infection” in 1909. In 1908, Charles Mantoux updated the skin test method by using a needle and syringe to inject the tuberculin.

tuberculosis and are at risk for developing TB disease if not diagnosed and treated for LTBI. The goals of a contact investigation are to successfully stop TB transmission and prevent future cases and outbreaks of TB disease. Contacts are persons who have shared airspace with a person with infectious TB disease.

Multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) remains a public health crisis. While an estimated 410 000 people developed multidrug-resistant or rifampicin-resistant TB (MDR/RR-TB) in 2022, only about two in five people accessed treatment. There is some progress in the development of new TB diagnostics, drugs and vaccines.

Transmission of M. tuberculosis in healthcare settings has been associated with close contact with persons who have infectious TB, particularly during the performance of cough-inducing procedures such as bronchoscopy and sputum induction. TB can spread through the air and can travel long distances.

The predominant form of treatment of tuberculosis throughout the first half of the 20th century, in Britain and elsewhere, was 'sanatorium treatment', whereby patients were confined in institutions in which they rested, exercised, ate wholesome food and followed careful routines, all of which were thought to control ...

During 1954 patients routinely received , PAS and for between six and nine months. By 1955, chemotherapy with and PAS for up to two years, with a starting supplement of was being prescribed for most.