Tuberculosis Flashcards
How many people globally have tuberculosis?
10 million people worldwide with active TB and 1.4 million people died from TB in 2020
What section of the Canadian population is disproportionately affected by TB?
Immigrants and Indigenous people
What age group forms the largest number of reported cases of TB?
Almost 20% of the people with TB are between 25 and 34
How concerning is TB in Saskatchewan?
It is spreading at an alarming rate within indigenous communities
What bacteria is responsible for the most TB?
Mycobacterium tuberculosis
What are some characteristics of Mycobacterium tuberculosis?
Acid fast bacillus (Ziehl-Neelson stain)
Impervious to gram-staining
Relatively slow growing, doubling in 20 hours
How is Mycobacterium tuberculosis spread in the community?
- Spread airbone via coughing or sneezing
- Host inhales droplet nuclei
- Close contacts (family members, coworkers, co-residents of shelters, prisons, and nursing homes (co-habitating individuals are most likely to be infected)
- With prolonged contact (risk of infection can be up to 30%)
Which patient groups have higher incidence rates of TB?
- Foreign born from highly endemic areas
- Canadian Indigenous people
- Close contacts
- Homelessness
- Incarceration
- Alcoholism, Intravenous Drug Users, malnutrition
- Co-infection with HIV (accelerated decline of immunological functions)
What are some risk factors for TB infections?
- Once infected with M. tuberculosis (lifetime risk of active TB is approx. 10%)
- Greatest risk is during first 2 years after infection
- Extremes of age (1-5x greater risk of active disease)
- Immunosupression (4-16x greater risk)
- HIV-infected (100x greater risk)
What does the likelihood of M. tuberculosis transmission to a new patient depend on?
The likelihood of a transmission event will depend on the number of infectious droplet nuclei per volume of air and the length of time that the uninfected perosn spends breathing that air
What are some factors that increase the probablity of M. tuberculosis transmission?
- Bacterial burden
- Upper lung-zone disease on CXR in source patient
- Laryngeal disease in source patient
- Amount and severity of cough in source patient
- Duration of exposure
- Crowding and poor room ventilation
- Delayed diagnosis annd/or treatment
How does a patient get infected by M. tuberculosis for the first time?
Occurs by inhalation of droplet nuclei which reach alveoli
Progression to clinical disease depends on the following:
- Infecting dose (# of organisms inhaled)
- Virulence of the organism
- Cell-mediated immune response (is innate immune system of macrophages capable of controlling infection, or does that adaptive immune system need to respond)
What is TB reactivation disease?
- Occurs in about 10% of cases
- Organisms within granulomas emerge and infect the apices of the lungs (low host defences)
- If untreated, the bacterial infection will destroy the lung (hypoxia, respiratory acidosis, and death)
What are some extrapulmonary manifestations of TB?
- Lymphatic and pleural disease are most common
- Vertebrae, joints, GU, and meninges can also be affected
- If organism gets into blood, can cause miliary TB (medical emergency)
- Can accelerate the progression of HIV via synergistic effect
What are some signs and symptoms associated with TB?
- Gradual onset
- Patients may not seek care until hemoptysis (coughing up blood)
- Weight loss, fever, cough, fatigue, nightsweats
- Frank hemoptysis
- Chest exam (dullness to percussion, rales (crackling))
- Moderate increase in WBC
- Nodular infiltrates seen under CXR
What is the Mantoux test?
Also known as the TB skin test
- 5 tuberculin unit dose is injected just below the dermis
- Read size of the bump in 48-72 hours to determine if patient has been infected with TB or has an active infection
In addition to a postive Mantoux test result, what else needs to test positive to confirm TB diagnosis?
Sputum culture and sensitivity (3 consecutive days of positive results)
What are the three subpopulations of TB that cause disease?
- Extracellular (rapidly dividing within protective cavities)
- Within granulomas (semidormant, very slow replication with bursts of activity)
- Intracellular within macrophages
What are the best drugs for Extracellular TB?
Isoniazid
Rifampin
Streptomycin
What are the best drugs for TB within granulomas?
Pyrazinamide
Rifampin
Isoniazid
What are the best drugs for intracellular TB?
Rifampin
Isoniazid
Quinolones
What is the first line treatment for latent TB infection?
Rifampin OD for 4 months
What is the second-line treatment for latent TB infection?
Rifapentine and Isoniazid once weekly for 3 months