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Showing posts from May, 2011

haematological profile of people living with pulmonary tuberculosis- a project carried in Ghana

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CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY Pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) is a contagious bacterial infection that mainly involves the lungs, but may spread to other organs and is caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis) (Sauders, 2007). One can get TB by breathing in air droplets from a cough or sneeze of an infected person. This is called primary tuberculosis. In Ghana, most people will recover from primary TB infection without further evidence of the disease. The infection may stay asleep or inactive (dormant) for years. However, in some people it can reactivate (Ghana Health Service (GHS) publications, 2000). Most people who develop symptoms of a TB infection first became infected in the past (Southwick, 2007). However in some cases the disease may become active in some few weeks after primary infection. In Ghana, there are approximately 10 cases of TB per 100,000 people. However, rates vary dramatically by a