ALLEN (Feb. 25, 2011) – Recent news that a Dallas student who died of other causes also had tuberculosis has led to local questions about the disease.

“Tuberculosis is pretty rare,” said Dr. Martin Jones, Regional Director for CareNow. “it tends to make news when someone in Dallas has it.”

Dr. Jones hasn’t seen any cases from the Allen clinic. People come into the clinic to get tested for TB in pre-employment exams. he says a new blood test is available for people who need to be tested. Jones also prepared an informational guide on TB for families in Allen who have more questions about the illness.

What you should know about Tuberculosis?

“TB” is short for tuberculosis. TB disease is caused by a bacterium called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. the bacteria usually attack the lungs, and if not treated properly, TB can be fatal.

The general symptoms of TB disease include feelings of sickness or weakness, weight loss, fever, and night sweats. the symptoms of TB disease of the lungs also include coughing, chest pain, and the coughing up of blood.

TB germs are put into the air when a person with TB disease of the lungs or throat coughs, sneezes, speaks, or sings. these germs can stay in the air for several hours, depending on the environment. Persons who breathe in the air containing these TB germs can become infected; this is called latent TB infection.

People with latent TB infection have TB germs in their bodies, but they are not sick because the germs are not active. these people do not have symptoms of TB disease, and they cannot spread the germs to others. however, they may develop TB disease in the future. they are often prescribed treatment to prevent them from developing TB disease.

People with TB disease are sick from TB germs that are active, meaning that they are multiplying and destroying tissue in their body. they usually have symptoms of TB disease. People with TB disease of the lungs or throat are capable of spreading germs to others. they are prescribed drugs that can treat TB disease.

People with TB disease are most likely to spread the germs to people they spend time with every day, such as family members or coworkers. If you have been around someone who has TB disease, you should go to your doctor or your local health department for tests.

Those at highest risk of developing TB infection (which may not progress to TB disease) are those exposed to those with active TB disease. these are usually close contacts and not those with an incidental exposure, but any known exposure should be tested. Those who have spent time in known endemic countries where TB prevalence is high are also at risk. In addition prisons, homeless shelters and other crowded institutions are known to have a higher risk of spreading TB.

You can be tested for TB infection with a simple skin test or a new blood test that has recently become available.

Jones shares information on a weekly basis from CareNow’s Allen clinic, as well as from CareNow’s regional clinics for a wider perpective on illnesses which may affect Allen families. Jones and his wife live in Allen and his children attend Allen schools. Jones is board certified in family practice and also a Fellow of the American Academy of Disability Evaluating Physicians and a Member American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

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European researchers develop test to pinpoint TB

A group of European researchers have developed a test that can diagnose active tuberculosis (TB) in people even when traditional tests have failed. the findings are published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

The research team, the Tuberculosis Network European Trialsgroup (TBNET), a scientific consortium founded in 2006 to research new methods of TB diagnosis, used the ELISPOT (enzyme-linked immunospot assay) test to develop the new method. they found that immune cells that are specific to TB bacilli are concentrated in the airways of patients who have active tuberculosis. these cells can be identified quickly using the ELISPOT test. the test can distinguish between latent TB infection, known as lasting tuberculosis immune responses (LTBI), and active TB by comparing the frequencies of TB-specific lymphocytes in the blood with those in the lung.

About a third of the world’s population is infected with the mycobacterium that causes TB but only about 10% to 20% of those will go on to develop the disease. the others have LTBI which can develop into TB at any time.

Sputum testing has traditionally been used for TB diagnosis: when TB bacilli show up on sputum tests, a positive diagnosis of TB can be established quickly. unfortunately, in about 50% of these tests the TB bacilli cannot be identified so a more accurate method is needed.

Dr Christoph Lange from the Research Center Borstel Leibniz-Center for Medicine and Biosciences in Germany, who led the TBNET research, said: in this study we showed that a differentiation between active pulmonary tuberculosis and LTBI is possible by using the ELISPOT test.

TB spreads quickly because it is disseminated through the air when infected people sneeze, spit or talk. It is the seventh leading cause of death worldwide and its incidence is rising again after a period of decline from the 1960s when the successful use of the Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine led to a decline in the disease. TB usually attacks the lungs but other parts of the body can be affected too including the spine and the circulatory system.

To test the ELISPOT method, the TBNET researchers recruited 347 patients who were believed to have TB, but were either unable to produce sputum or had had 3 negative sputum tests. the ELISPOT test was performed using bronchoaveolar lavage (BAL, a method in which fluid is squirted into the lung and then withdrawn for analysis).

Of the 347 patients, 71 were diagnosed with active pulmonary TB and the results for patients with active TB were accurate in 91.5% of cases.

‘these findings show us that positive results in the BAL ELISPOT were highly indicative of actual cases of active TB,’ Dr Lange said. ‘A negative BAL ELISPOT result almost excludes active tuberculosis.

‘Future research about the immunodiagnosis of tuberculosis will need to identify indicators of treatment success that will allow safe discontinuation of anti-tuberculosis therapy without an increased risk of the reactivation,’ he pointed out. ‘This will be of great clinical importance to guide the treatment of individuals with LTBI and active tuberculosis, especially in cases of drug-resistant strains of mycobacterium tuberculosis.’

Dr Lange also pointed out that in 2008 a 27-institution consortium was established in Europe for the study of drug resistant tuberculosis (tbpannet.eu/>) and was granted EUR 12 million by the EU. the result is the TB PAN-NET (Pan-European network for the study and clinical management of drug resistant tuberculosis) project, supported by the Health Thematic area of the EUs Seventh Framework Programme (FP7).

Well today i visited a medical museum near where I live and had a brain wave after reading about TB.

1897… was the date Ben Stokers Dracula was written.
Which is just after or around the time of an outbreak of tuberculosis (TB) …
The symptoms of TB are, going pale, gushing blood from the mouth, and was seen by people to be quite a romantic death…
You can see why I linked them. So is there a link???

No, not really. The origins of the Dracula plot are pretty well known, and any serious website on Stoker or the Dracula legend can give you the details. Basically, Stoker read about Vlad Drakul and some of the East European vampire legends, which is the real source of his inspiration.

Sure.
Why not?
Look in the real world.
Decode this lyrics " You'll see "
"Wonderful world"
"Don't know much"
"Time after time"
"Wonderful wonderful"
"Wonderful life"
"What a wonderful world"
Not suffering from it?
And coughing blood out from the cough?
With blood dripping from the mouth?
Luke 21.30-36
Luke 9.25,55-56,60
Luke 8.5-8,10-17
Luke 24.44-45,47-48
What do you think?

No you sad person there is no link, TB has been around from the beginning of time and is common in animals as well as in humans, Dracula is a character in a fictional story.

Is there a link between epistaxis and Dracula?

Its BRAM Stoker, and no. Dracula wasn't real.