THE COMMUNITY
XavierDz
reply2.docxYesterdayMar 6 at 4:52pm
Tuberculosis (TB), is often a medical term and disease that many hear about but can’t quite explain what it is and how it manifests, nor do many understand how it spreads so quickly once an outbreak or a confirmed diagnosis has occurred. “Tuberculosis is caused by a bacterium called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The bacteria usually attack the lungs, but TB bacteria can attack any part of the body such as the kidney, spine, and brain.” (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2022). There are many signs and symptoms that someone may have with TB; some are cough, chest pain, weakness, fatigue, and decreased or no appetite. Tuberculosis is spread through the air by an already infected person by coughing, sneezing, and spitting. It can then be inhaled by another not infected person and cause them to become infected quickly. TB is spread to those whom we are in close contact with, meaning you won’t necessarily become infected if you are out in the community setting and someone may happen to have it. “TB isn't spread easily outdoors because air flows freely and sunlight kills the TB bacteria.”(Whatcom County Health Department, 2020). Understanding the disease and disease process that is being identified and researched is crucial in implementing changes needed to decrease the number of outbreaks and spread among the vast number of communities in which we live.
For Debbie since she has already identified a group of individuals who are affected by TB. Her next steps would be to identify and implement interventions (primary, secondary, and tertiary) that would assist her in managing the outbreak. A primary intervention would be to educate the population affected. One key element to this intervention would be to provide those with materials and references that they can understand; many of our Hispanic population who are migrant workers have English as their second language, so providing them with materials that they can understand is key. I know this first hand as my mother-in-law is a Hispanic migrant worker and this is her main frustration with the healthcare system-language barriers, and informative materials not readily available in her native language. A secondary intervention would be to offer testing and provide testing and the education on why it is important to be tested and how it will be performed. Inform the select population on the importance of why the testing is done and how this may benefit the overall outcome. Finally, we reach the tertiary intervention, and this would consist of follow-through care post-test results, discussing treatment options for those positively infected, providing resources to help the men obtain the medication needed to successfully complete the treatment regimen, and showing support and compassion in guiding them to a healthy recovery. Many times, our migrant populations are scared of the unknown and the fear of medical disease processes. Education and compassion are essential in reducing the reoccurrence of many diseases, such as tuberculosis.
Many of the same interventions can be applied to my community and its TB prevalence. I don’t believe there would be many variances between Debbie’s community and mine, as it should be very similar in all communities. In my community, we have a vast number of immigrant individuals and families ranging from all stages of socioeconomic status, so to me, as medical professionals, when we are readily available to preemptively provide the education and resources available to our communities as a whole it will produce a better outcome and lower the numbers of diseases that may arise. Having affordable healthcare available so all family members can have annual health exams, providing options for resources to help fund treatment and medication costs, and lastly, as I said before, just being compassionate and willing to take the time with our patients that in itself can change the outcome of many people who are already dealing with a medical crisis.
CDC.Wonder.2020. http://wonder.cdc.gov/Links to an external site.Links to an external site.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.(2022, May 3). How TB spreads. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved March 6, 2023, from https://www.cdc.gov/tb/topic/basics/howtbspreads.htmLinks to an external site.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. Whatcom County Health Department. (2023, March) Retrieved from https://www.whatcomcounty.us/3221/tuberculosis-TBLinks to an external site.
