LP2 Assignment: The Impact of Infectious Disease This assignment will assess competency 2. Analyze the impact of resource constraints that impact global health care Directions : Write a XXXXXXXXXXword...

THE IMPACT OF INFECTIOUS DISEASE 6
The impact of Infectious Disease
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Tuberculosis
Introduction
Infectious diseases form a significant public health problem across the world. Despite the fact that these diseases are available in the developed world, the problem is more prevalent in the underdeveloped and the developing world. Infectious diseases are usually caused by microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, virus as well as parasites. They are diseases that can be spread either indirectly or directly from one individual to another. In most cases, the infectious microorganism is the main agent that spreads the diseases. It is worth noting that many of these microorganisms live within the bodies of individuals are usually harmless unless they are subjected to certain conditions.
This paper will focus on tuberculosis which is a very common infectious disease in the underdeveloped world. The disease is caused by a bacterium known as Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB). It mostly manifests itself in the lungs but it can also spread to other parts of the body (Madkour, 2011). The paper will discuss the disease incidence of tuberculosis (TB), the effect of the disease on individuals, effects of the disease on the economic system of the country and the global health market among other important factors.
Disease incidence
TB ranks among the top diseases in the world that causes most deaths in the world. The death toll caused by tuberculosis is higher in the developing nations as compared to the developed countries. As a matter of fact, the significance of this disease in the developing countries led to its inclusion in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that were crafted in the year 2000. Goal 8 of the MDGs outlined the need to fight infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDs, Tuberculosis and Malaria among others (Van Leth, van der Werf and Borgdorff, 2006). The goal suggested that the stop and reverse the incidences of TB would start by the year 2015.
Zimbabwe is one of the countries in the world that has the highest per capita TB incidence which is about 603/100,000. The disease mostly affects people who are HIV positive. In Zimbabwe, about 16% of adults are living with HIV (Metcalfe et al. 2014). Three quarters of TB patients are HIV positive. Country wide, about 17 million people have Tuberculosis. The incidences of TB increased significantly in the year 2007 and 2008. The increase is associated to the economic crisis that hit the country.
Effects of TB on individuals
As it has been mentioned earlier, TB usually affects the lungs. However, it can also affect other parts of the body such as the brain, spine or kidney. It occurs in two forms namely latent tuberculosis and active tuberculosis. In the case of the firmer,...