Tuberculosis Is A Disease That Affects People - 998 Words

Intro: Tuberculosis is a disease that affects many individuals throughout the world, and not always with the same prevalence. Thesis statement:For this research paper my goal is to explain and illustrate why certain populations tend to have higher infection rates of tuberculosis than the average population in the United States and what causes these higher rates. At what point do health officials step in and work on prevention in these specific populations and why aren’t we implementing the tuberculosis shot for these populations? Significance of topic: The topic of Tuberculosis is significant as it affects many populations, but it also does not affect all populations equally. Tuberculosis has an increased prevalence rate in homeless†¦show more content†¦Incarcerated individuals also have a higher rate of prevalence, with individuals experiencing 4-6% higher rates of TB infection than non-incarcerated individuals. Homeless individuals also experience higher rates of in fection due to other factors that increase TB such as substance use, high density areas with poor ventilation, and lack of proper nutrition. There are some prevention measures in place to counteract the higher prevalence of TB among minority groups or special populations such as routine surveillance, providing lab services and testing, and providing information to these groups. These measures are not currently working too well with funding being a major reason, both for these programs being funded and for these populations being able to afford these programs if they even have access to them. Certain populations, the homeless population for example, may also be distrustful of outsiders and refuse to listen to information about TB, or may be more concerned with lack of food or shelter. Current research is being done on how best to use this information to more effectively create prevention strategies and how to treat the disease. Between 1906 and 1919 a vaccine was developed by Albert Calmette and Camille Geurin, a pair of French scientists, to help prevent this terrible disease (Kupferschmidt, 2011). While effective