Knowledge and awareness among college students about the importance of iron blockage in tuberculosis-A survey

Abstract

Tuberculosis threatens to destroy millions across the globe. There is an urgent need for new methods to prevent and treat the disease. Similar to most microorganisms, Mycobacterium tuberculosis - the causative agent of tuberculosis, requires iron for important metabolic pathways. Since iron is not readily accessible in the host, pathogens must compete aggressively to create an infection for this metal, but they must also carefully regulate the acquisition of iron, as excess free iron can be highly toxic. The aim of the study was to create awareness of iron blockage and stop tuberculosis among college students. A descriptive survey was conducted among various college students using questionnaires in google forms. The questionnaire consists of 16 questions were framed based on the knowledge and awareness of iron knowledge to stop tuberculosis and receive a response from 100 participants. In this survey, 67.53% were aware of Mycobacterium tuberculosis cause tuberculosis in the human body and 59.74% were aware that bacteria which causes tuberculosis to need iron to survive but 27.27% were not aware. Majority of participants were aware that iron was capable of restarting replication and refractive to antibodies and trigger the state of persistence bacteria. Nearly 57.14% of participants Mycobacterium tuberculosis has a remarkable ability to persist in the absence of Fe, but 19.48% stated it does not survive. By this current survey, it can be evident that the majority of participants are educated about knowledge of tuberculosis associated with causes, main role and physiological mechanisms involved in it.