Combatting the Obstinate Killer: Tuberculosis

Abstract

Tuberculosis (TB) is a highly prevalent disease and a leading global killer, making it an important public health issue. This literature review seeks to evaluate the transmission methods, co-morbidities, treatment delay, issues with compliance to treatments and drug-resistant strains of TB in order to better understand why the prevalence of this disease is still very high, and why it is so challenging to eliminate. The review will also briefly analyses the intricate association between tuberculosis prevalence in poorer populations and how looking at it through a different perspective may help with control and decrease in spread. In addition, some of the issues associated with the current adopted tuberculosis elimination plans will be addressed and ways they can be manipulated for improved future outcomes. Lastly, I will discuss the scope of the problem and propose some solutions for how to combat this disease, in relation to the findings presented in the review.