Today is World TB Day. Honestly, I did not know that World TB Day was a thing until yesterday. However, it seems appropriate that this little-known holiday falls today considering TB is one of the diseases I am currently studying. I also recently had to go into an urgent care (which was quite a risky feat in the quarantined world we live in now) to get a TB test done for a summer job. Basically, TB (like another disease right now) is making itself fairly difficult to ignore.
Indeed, when I did a quick google search of TB, a news article came up that reported a TB case in early February at a high school in Durham. This (literally) hits close to home as I live somewhat near Durham. It is also pretty shocking to read about a case so near where I live considering that TB is actually a fairly rare disease. According to the CDC, TB only had a reported rate of 2.7 cases per 100,000 persons in the US in 2019. Following the identification of a case of this rare disease in Durham, those who could have come into contact with the infected person were screened to prevent transmission.
Early identification and treatment, like the the type exemplified by the school officials in Durham, is an effective method for reducing spread of this disease. However, many organizations are working not just to reduce transmission, but to implement broad-based plans and strategies to completely remove TB from the face of the earth. One such organization is the World Health Organization (WHO). In their published strategy to end TB, they mention 3 key pillars to ending TB: integrated patient care and prevention, bold policies and supportive systems, and intensified research and innovation. Relying on these pillars and the actions they entail, WHO hopes to effectively end TB by 2035. This sounds very hopeful, but only time will tell if their strategies are successful.
Microbes and Musings 