ABSTRACT
Tuberculosis (TB) is an airborne communicable disease caused by a bacterial pathogen, Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis), mainly affecting lungs. As per the World Health Organization (WHO), TB engulfs many lives every year globally. Due to its high mortality rate, TB is a threat to the human race. The development of TB infection is governed by both external and internal risk factors. Exposure and infection by the pathogen are included in external factors, whereas development of active TB disease is among the internal factors. Among the exogenous factors, environmental factors like temperature, humidity, and sunlight play key roles in the spread of TB. The quality of air we breathe today is also a major health concern. Breathing polluted air promotes oxidative stress and inflammation, which is harmful to the respiratory epithelium, leading to a weakened immune response and thus increasing the chance for development of TB. This chapter will discuss how change in the environment may lead to an alarming situation: the re-emergence of TB in a more deadly form.
