Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Preface
- Part 1 Diagnosis, host defence and antimicrobials
- Part 2 Respiratory infections due to major respiratory pathogens
- 5 Pneumococcal pneumonia
- 6 Staphylococcal pneumonia
- 7 Haemophilus influenzae and Moraxella infections
- 8 Gram-negative bacillary pneumonia
- 9 Viral lower respiratory tract infections
- 10 Cytomegalovirus pneumonia
- 11 Non-tuberculous mycobacteria
- 12 Actinomycosis and nocardiosis
- 13 Pneumonia due to small bacterial organisms
- 14 Legionellosis
- 15 Tuberculosis
- 16 Fungal respiratory disease
- Part 3 Major respiratory syndromes
- Index
15 - Tuberculosis
from Part 2 - Respiratory infections due to major respiratory pathogens
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 October 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Preface
- Part 1 Diagnosis, host defence and antimicrobials
- Part 2 Respiratory infections due to major respiratory pathogens
- 5 Pneumococcal pneumonia
- 6 Staphylococcal pneumonia
- 7 Haemophilus influenzae and Moraxella infections
- 8 Gram-negative bacillary pneumonia
- 9 Viral lower respiratory tract infections
- 10 Cytomegalovirus pneumonia
- 11 Non-tuberculous mycobacteria
- 12 Actinomycosis and nocardiosis
- 13 Pneumonia due to small bacterial organisms
- 14 Legionellosis
- 15 Tuberculosis
- 16 Fungal respiratory disease
- Part 3 Major respiratory syndromes
- Index
Summary
Definition
Tuberculosis is an infection caused by micro-organisms of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex, and is usually taken to include infections caused by the human and bovine strains of the organism, but not those infections caused by other ‘Non–tuberculous’ mycobacteria such as Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare and others, which are described in full detail in Chapter 11. Such non-tuberculous mycobacteria have also been described as ‘atypical’, ‘anonymous’, ‘opportunistic’ or ‘Mycobacteria other than tuberculosis’ (MOTT), but these terms are generally discouraged.
Characteristics of Mycobacterium tuberculosis
The classic property of the mycobacteria in general is that of being acid fast; that is, when stained with a dye such as carbol fuchsin, as in the Ziehl–Neelsen stain, weak mineral acids do not remove the colour. The stain is also resistant to removal by alcohol, so that they are known as acid and alcohol-fast bacilli, or AAFB. This property is shared by all mycobacteria, including the non-tuberculous mycobacteria.
They are unicellular organisms, containing polysaccharides, antigenic proteins, and lipids. The cell wall has a very high lipid content and is formed in several layers, the innermost being composed of short peptide chains cross-linked with long polysaccharide chains, forming a peptidoglycan called murein. The intermediate layer of the cell wall is formed by arabinogalactan, a polysaccharide attached to long chain fatty acids called mycolic acids, and the outer layer consists of glycolipids named mycosides.
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- Infectious Diseases of the Respiratory Tract , pp. 244 - 267Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1998
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