• Question: Is there any way to prevent Tuberculosis?

    Asked by mariaa.s to Ceri, Marikka, Matt, Rob, Sally on 18 Nov 2014.
    • Photo: Sally Cutler

      Sally Cutler answered on 18 Nov 2014:

      This is a big question. In the UK a huge reduction was seen with improved living conditions. There are also vaccines (BCG) though its efficacy varies depending upon where you are in the world. Treatments do exist, but have to be given for a long time, so to ensure that this happens it is best to supervise (sometimes for six months!). This is obviously a problem if you live somewhere remote in a developing country where most cases of TB occur. The next big issue is increasing drug resistance in TB and for this there is much research being done to find alternatives. A few test antibiotics are showing some promise, so fingers crossed. Education and containment of highly infectious cases is also useful to stop spread of infection to others. Great question!

    • Photo: Robert Hampson

      Robert Hampson answered on 18 Nov 2014:

      Vaccination programmes. The BCG vaccine may not be 100% effective in preventing TB, but if everyone is vaccinated then even if it is only 80% effective then 4 out of 5 opportunities that TB has to infect an individual will be a failure. This in turn will reduce the onward spread as the 4 individuals who have been saved from infection now also aren’t further spreading the disease. Generally if you can get about 85-90% immunity, diseases start dying out as they struggle to find new susceptible people to infect. This is often called herd immunity.

    • Photo: Ceri Dare

      Ceri Dare answered on 18 Nov 2014:

      Better living conditions, less poverty and overcrowding will beat TB – it is particularly a problem when lots of people are crowded in bad conditions, for example in Russian prisons.

      People with HIV are particularly likely to get TB, so we need to get everyone on good HIV treatment, including people in poor countries and poor people in rich countries.

      The BCG vaccination is partly effective against TB, but we could really do with a better immunisation since it only protects about 4 out of 5 people who get it.

      Some TB is already really difficult to treat – simple TB takes at least six months to cure, but multi-drug resistant TB can take two years or more. So it is important to get the right medicines, treatment and support to people reliably and consistently over several years – which can be difficult because the people who have the worst TB are already often very poor.

    • Photo: Marikka Beecroft

      Marikka Beecroft answered on 19 Nov 2014:

      You can only treat TB really and stop it’s spread because the vaccine (BCG) isn’t too effective.

      The problem is the BCG is that it only works in certain countries and doesn’t actually work in others because of certain things like UV light. Countries with more sunlight can interfere with the vaccine. Also the vaccine can be useless if people have already been infected with any of the cousins of the bacteria that causes tuberculosis. So the Vaccine isn’t actually a truly cure all method.

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