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Dickens' Description of Tuberculosis
- Erin Omen Updike reads a dramatic passage describing a disease.
- The passage is from Charles Dickens' 1879 novel, Nicholas Nickleby, and describes tuberculosis.
Low Active TB Development Rate
- Tuberculosis has a unique characteristic: even with infection, active TB develops in only 5-15% of cases.
- This means most infected individuals carry the bacteria without experiencing the disease.
Tuberculosis Infection Process
- Mycobacterium tuberculosis enters the respiratory tract, evades initial immune responses, and reaches the alveoli.
- It multiplies slowly, becomes encased by immune cells (latent stage), and reactivates when the immune system weakens.