The key difference between pertussis and tuberculosis is that pertussis is a highly contagious respiratory infection caused by Bordetella pertussis while tuberculosis is a highly contagious respiratory infection caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
Pertussis and tuberculosis are two infectious diseases in breathing organs such as the sinuses, throat, airways, or lungs. These infectious diseases normally have common symptoms like cough, sneezing, a stuffy nose, headaches, muscle aches, wheezing, high temperature, and feeling unwell. These diseases are treated through antibiotics.
CONTENTS
1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Pertussis
3. What is Tuberculosis
4. Similarities – Pertussis and Tuberculosis
5. Pertussis vs Tuberculosis in Tabular Form
6. Summary – Pertussis vs Tuberculosis
What is Pertussis?
Pertussis, also called whooping cough, is an infectious respiratory disease caused by a bacterium called Bordetella pertussis. Pertussis is marked by a serious hacking cough followed by whoop sounds. This bacterium was first discovered in 1906. The vaccine for pertussis has been available since 1940. It was estimated that 16.3 million people worldwide were infected by this bacterium in 2015. In 2015, pertussis resulted in 58700 deaths as well.
Figure 01: Bordetella Pertussis
Pertussis primarily affects children and young teenagers. However, it can affect adults as well. The symptoms of pertussis include a runny nose, nasal congestion, fever, cough, vomiting, red and watery eyes, a red or blue face, extreme fatigue, and a high-pitched whoop sound. The complications involved in pertussis are bruised cracked ribs, broken blood vessels in the skin or whites of the eyes, abdominal hernias, pneumonia, slowed breathing, dehydration weight loss, seizures, and brain damage. Pertussis is generally diagnosed through physical examinations, nose or throat culture tests, blood tests, and chest X-rays. Furthermore, treatment options for pertussis include antibiotics (macrolides like erythromycin, clarithromycin, and azithromycin) vaccine (DTaP and Tdap), lifestyle and home remedies (getting plenty of rest, drinking plenty of fluids, eating smaller meals, cleaning the air, covering a cough, and washing hands regularly).
What is Tuberculosis?
Tuberculosis is an infectious respiratory disease that is caused by a bacterium called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis normally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Tuberculosis can present in two ways: latent and active tuberculosis. Latent tuberculosis causes no symptoms. However, active tuberculosis may include coughing for weeks, coughing up blood or mucus, fever, night sweats, chest pain or pain with breathing or coughing, fatigue, unintentional weight loss, chills, and loss of appetite. The complications of tuberculosis are spinal pain, joint damage, meningitis, liver or kidney problems, and heart disorders.
Figure 02: Tuberculosis
Moreover, tuberculosis can be diagnosed through physical examination, tuberculin skin test, blood test, imaging test (X-ray and CT scan), and sputum test. Furthermore, treatment options for tuberculosis include antibiotics such as isoniazid, rifampin, ethambutol, pyrazinamide, fluoroquinolones, amikacin or capreomycin, bedaquiline, linezolid, and a vaccine called Bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG).
What are the Similarities Between Pertussis and Tuberculosis?
- Pertussis and tuberculosis are two infectious diseases occurring in the respiratory tract.
- Both these respiratory infections may have similar symptoms like cough, sneezing, a stuffy nose, headaches, muscle aches, wheezing, high temperature, and feeling unwell
- They can be diagnosed through physical examination, blood tests, and imaging tests.
- They can cause life-threatening complications.
- Both can be treated with antibiotics.
What is the Difference Between Pertussis and Tuberculosis?
Pertussis is caused by Bordetella pertussis while tuberculosis is caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Thus, this is the key difference between pertussis and tuberculosis. The bacterium causing pertussis was first discovered in 1906, while the bacterium causing tuberculosis was discovered in 1882.
The below infographic presents the differences between pertussis and tuberculosis in tabular form for side-by-side comparison.
Summary – Pertussis vs Tuberculosis
Pertussis and tuberculosis are two respiratory infections that are highly contagious respiratory infections. Hence, they cause problems in body parts involved in breathing such as the sinuses, throat, airways, or lungs. Bordetella pertussis is the causative bacterium of pertussis while Mycobacterium tuberculosis is the causative bacterium of tuberculosis. So, this is the key difference between pertussis and tuberculosis.
Reference:
1. “Whooping Cough.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 11 Feb. 2022.
2. “Tuberculosis (TB)” NHS Choices, NHS.
Image Courtesy:
1. “Pertussis bacteria (Bordetella pertussis)” By Vaccines at Sanofi via (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) Flickr
2. “Depiction of a tuberculosis patient” By Myupchar (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Commons Wikimedia