2024-08-02 17:06:00
Tuberculosis is the leading cause of death from infection worldwide. According to the World Health Organization, every year, about 10 million people contract the disease, and about 1.5 million die from it. In addition, nearly a quarter of the world’s population is infected with the causative agent of the disease, Mycobacterium tuberculosis. HIV is the greatest known risk factor for progression to active tuberculosis due to its strong immunosuppressive effect but it is not the only risk factor associated with tuberculosis.
A study investigated epidemiological risk factors, other than HIV, associated with tuberculosis in the Northern Cape region of South Africa. In an uneducated community, many people are likely to be exposed to tuberculosis as teenagers. About 80 to 90% of the population is infected with the wrong type of tuberculosis, according to researchers.
The researchers found that gender and, separately, residence in large cities are the most important risk factors associated with the development of active tuberculosis, findings expected based on studies former private. They also found that a person’s economic status, age, and whether or not they moved throughout their lives affected the risk of tuberculosis. These findings surprised the researchers.
According to the researchers, these findings may show how pre- and post-apartheid communities are affected by social factors and therefore the lifetime risk of tuberculosis.
In their study, the team generated a cohort of 774 people with suspected asthma from 12 community health clinics in the Northern Cape region. Then they evaluated the main risk factors by performing a group analysis with three statistical models.
Researchers found that higher socioeconomic status was a protective factor among 18- to 39-year-olds. Among older groups, the trend reversed, with those with higher socioeconomic status at risk. the higher the active tuberculosis. The finding contradicts similar research conducted in the United States and Mexico. According to researchers, these trends in the Northern Cape may be echoes of the social and economic changes that occurred before and after Apartheid.
Researchers also found that residence affects the risk of active tuberculosis. People who live in urban areas are more likely to have active asthma compared to those who have lived in the countryside all their lives and those who have moved from the city to the countryside. Those who have moved from urban to rural areas have the lowest overall risk of active tuberculosis.
The researchers think this may be because vaccines are more common in urban areas. Those born in cities may be more likely to get vaccinated at an early age. As they grow older and move to more rural areas, they are more likely to be exposed to the tuberculosis virus.
This study was conducted by the Department of Anthropology at UC Davis and was published in the journal PLOS Global Public Health.
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