Question

The likelihood of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection can be influenced by host, environmental, and bacterial factors.  List 2 examples of each factor that could increase the chance of infection in people.

Answer 1

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a species of pathogenic bacteria. They cause tuberculosis.

The following are the risk factors :-

Host factors:- Aged population, diabetes, infection with HIV which weakens the immune system. All these factors increases the risk.

Environmental factors:- poverty, indoor air pollution, poor ventilation and over crowding in home.

Bacterial factors: The virulence factor of bacteria are presence of very complex cell wall envolope and low permeability. This is beacuse of presence of long chain alpha-alkyl, beta-hydroxy fatty acids in their cell wall. It has a waxy coating in cell wall that is mycolic acid.This caoting makes hard to gram staining.so it can appear either gram negetive and gram positive.

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