Health and Me

Ishita Roy

Unique Symptoms Of Tuberculosis That Led To Amazon Warehouse Disease Outbreak And How Long Infection Lasts

<a href="https://www.healthandme.com/health-news/amazon-confirms-10-tuberculosis-cases-at-uk-warehouse-article-153471393" data-type="tilCustomLink">Amazon Warehouse Disease Outbreak</a>: Amazon has confirmed that 10 employees at its Coventry, UK warehouse have tested positive for <span><a href="https://www.healthandme.com/health/tuberculosis">tuberculosis</a></span> (<span>TB</span>). The site shutdown calls have continued to grow. Globally, TB is responsible for the most deaths of any infectious disease. As per the World Health Organization (WHO) data, around 1.25 million people died from the infection in 2023. This was also the year when new cases hit an all time high, around 8.2 million people being diagnosed with TB. 

<h2>What Is TB And What Makes It Unique From Other Diseases?</h2>

Historically too, TB was one of the deadliest diseases, which killed 1 in 7 people in the US and in Europe in the late 1800s. However, with the development of antibiotics and strong public health efforts, cases have declined significantly over the 20th century. However this is for the second year in a row that TB cases have increased in the US. The number has reached their highest levels in over a decade.

According to preliminary data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 10,300 cases were reported in 2023—an 8% increase from the previous year. This marks the highest number of TB cases since 2011.

Both the total number of cases and the infection rate have gone up, with 34 states reporting an increase. The rise has been observed across all age groups.

Tuberculosis (TB) is a bacterial infection that primarily affects the lungs but can spread to other parts of the body. It is transmitted through the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes. Without proper treatment, TB can be fatal.

While TB symptoms depend on the affected area, the most unique symptom is a persistent cough, which lasts more than 3 weeks. This could also be mixed with mucus and or blood, along with chest pain, night sweats, unexplained weight loss, fever, fatigue and even appetite loss.

Extrapulmonary TB could also lead to swollen glands like neck, severe back pain in the spine, and headaches, confusion, or even blood in urine. A person with active TB may experience symptoms including: a severe cough that lasts 3 or more weeks.

What makes TB unique is how it has shaped civilization, as noted The Fault in Our Stars writer John Green. His book, <em>Everything is Tuberculosis: The History And Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection</em>. 

The book is also inspired by a young person's battle with disease, who Green had met in Sierra Leone.

He shares, "I met Henry [Reider] at a tuberculosis hospital in Sierra Leone, a boy who had been living with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. I thought he was 9 years old, the same age as my son, Henry.”

Read: <a href="https://www.healthandme.com/health-wellness/scabies-cases-rise-across-the-uk-this-winter-know-the-early-symptoms-article-153477146" data-type="tilCustomLink">John Green’s ‘Everything Is Tuberculosis’ Explores The Disease’s Stigma And Strange Romanticization</a>

However it turned out that the boy was not 9. He was 17. "He'd just been so stunted by malnutrition and by tuberculosis that he looked much younger.”

Reider took Green around the hospital, and as he charmed him with his way, Green could not help but notice that the disease is eating him alive. "He was already on the last line of available antibiotics," said Green. "As one doctor put it, that is the point where you put the stethoscope down here - there was very little that was believed could be done for Henry."

However, over the years, he gained access to treatments common in wealthy countries and Green stayed in touch. He slowly got invested with the diseases and the injustices that had happened. He in fact explored origin stories and found that TB led to mass migrations to Western states, underpinned the creation of Stetson hat and spurred the assassins that kicked off the World War I.

Green also mentioned that there is such an extent of the inequity that it almost gets really hard to imagine. " But since tuberculosis became curable in the mid-1950s, we have allowed over 150 million people to die of the disease. It's one of the great marks of shame in human history, I think. I had no idea about that. I had no idea that tuberculosis was even still a thing. I thought of it very much as that disease of British romantic poets. But then I met Henry at a tuberculosis hospital in Sierra Leone, a boy who had been living with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis," he said.

He also highlighted how TB patients were treated as "special souls". This disease soon became a sign of creativity and sensitivity. However, he rightly wrote that "romanticization is not a kind or generous way of treating the ill".

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Amazon Warehouse Disease Outbreak: Amazon has confirmed that 10 employees at its Coventry, UK warehouse have tested positive for tuberculosis (TB). The site shutdown calls have continued to grow. Globally, TB is responsible for the most deaths of any infectious disease. As per the World Health Organization (WHO) data, around 1.25 million people died from the infection in 2023. This was also the year when new cases hit an all time high, around 8.2 million people being diagnosed with TB. What Is TB And What Makes It Unique From Other Diseases?Historically too, TB was one of the deadliest diseases, which killed 1 in 7 people in the US and in Europe in the late 1800s. However, with the development of antibiotics and strong public health efforts, cases have declined significantly over the 20th century. However this is for the second year in a row that TB cases have increased in the US. The number has reached their highest levels in over a decade.According to preliminary data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 10,300 cases were reported in 2023—an 8% increase from the previous year. This marks the highest number of TB cases since 2011.Both the total number of cases and the infection rate have gone up, with 34 states reporting an increase. The rise has been observed across all age groups.Tuberculosis (TB) is a bacterial infection that primarily affects the lungs but can spread to other parts of the body. It is transmitted through the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes. Without proper treatment, TB can be fatal.Unique Symptoms Of TBWhile TB symptoms depend on the affected area, the most unique symptom is a persistent cough, which lasts more than 3 weeks. This could also be mixed with mucus and or blood, along with chest pain, night sweats, unexplained weight loss, fever, fatigue and even appetite loss.Extrapulmonary TB could also lead to swollen glands like neck, severe back pain in the spine, and headaches, confusion, or even blood in urine. A person with active TB may experience symptoms including: a severe cough that lasts 3 or more weeks.John Green On TuberculosisWhat makes TB unique is how it has shaped civilization, as noted The Fault in Our Stars writer John Green. His book, Everything is Tuberculosis: The History And Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection. The book is also inspired by a young person's battle with disease, who Green had met in Sierra Leone.He shares, "I met Henry [Reider] at a tuberculosis hospital in Sierra Leone, a boy who had been living with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. I thought he was 9 years old, the same age as my son, Henry.”Read: John Green’s ‘Everything Is Tuberculosis’ Explores The Disease’s Stigma And Strange RomanticizationHowever it turned out that the boy was not 9. He was 17. "He'd just been so stunted by malnutrition and by tuberculosis that he looked much younger.”Reider took Green around the hospital, and as he charmed him with his way, Green could not help but notice that the disease is eating him alive. "He was already on the last line of available antibiotics," said Green. "As one doctor put it, that is the point where you put the stethoscope down here - there was very little that was believed could be done for Henry."However, over the years, he gained access to treatments common in wealthy countries and Green stayed in touch. He slowly got invested with the diseases and the injustices that had happened. He in fact explored origin stories and found that TB led to mass migrations to Western states, underpinned the creation of Stetson hat and spurred the assassins that kicked off the World War I.Green also mentioned that there is such an extent of the inequity that it almost gets really hard to imagine. " But since tuberculosis became curable in the mid-1950s, we have allowed over 150 million people to die of the disease. It's one of the great marks of shame in human history, I think. I had no idea about that. I had no idea that tuberculosis was even still a thing. I thought of it very much as that disease of British romantic poets. But then I met Henry at a tuberculosis hospital in Sierra Leone, a boy who had been living with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis," he said.He also highlighted how TB patients were treated as "special souls". This disease soon became a sign of creativity and sensitivity. However, he rightly wrote that "romanticization is not a kind or generous way of treating the ill".