What is tuberculosis (TB)?
Tuberculosis (TB) is a bacterial infection caused by a germ called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The bacteria usually attack the lungs, but they can also damage other parts of the body. TB spreads through the air when a person with TB of the lungs or throat coughs, sneezes or talks. If you think you have been exposed, you should go to your doctor for tests as soon as possible. You are more likely to get TB if you have a weak immune system. Learn More: • Health Topics at Medline Plus – This comprehensive online library service from the National Institutes of Health Medical Library (NIHML) offers numerous resources on TB. • The Division of Tuberculosis Elimination, of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides news items, updates, fact sheets, and recent highlights regarding TB and the effort to control and eliminate it. • State TB Control Offices – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) offers a complete listing of each state office with phone, fax, and We
Tuberculosis, or TB, is an infectious disease that usually affects the lungs but that can attack other parts of the body. There are two forms of TB: TB infection and TB disease (or active TB). Most people with TB have TB infection. What is the infectious agent that causes tuberculosis? Tuberculosis is caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, a bacterium. Where is tuberculosis found? Tuberculosis is found worldwide. How do people get tuberculosis? Tuberculosis is spread from person to person through the air. People with TB disease of the lung spray the bacteria into the air when they cough, sneeze, talk, or laugh. People nearby can breathe in the bacteria and become infected. To become infected, a person usually needs to be exposed for a long time to air containing many TB bacteria. When a person breathes in TB bacteria, they lodge in the lungs and begin to multiply. From there, the bacteria sometimes move through the blood to other parts of the body, such as the kidneys, joints, and brain
Tuberculosis (TB) is a contagious bacterial disease that primarily involves the lungs. Like the common cold, it spreads through the air. Only people who are sick with TB in their lungs are infectious. When infectious people cough, sneeze, talk or spit, they propel TB germs, known as bacilli, into the air. A person needs only to inhale a small number of these to be infected. TB can also affect other parts of the body, such as the brain, the kidneys or the spine. Unlike bugs that kill almost every person they infect, Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. TB) infects many individuals yet causes disease in relatively few. After gaining entry into a person’s lungs, the bacteria frequently live unobtrusively for years or decades. During this latent infection, the person generally suffers no obvious disease symptoms and cannot pass on the germ to others. Again, individuals that have TB infection cannot spread the disease and people with TB infection can be treated to prevent infection from developin
Tuberculosis (TB) is a contagious disease caused by bacteria that kills nearly 2 million people every year and infects 1% of the world s population every year. Although it can cause disease in any part of the body, TB usually affects the lungs. Someone in the world is infected with TB every second: almost 1/3 of the world s population is infected with TB. You can have TB infection and not have any symptoms (TB disease) because the germs that cause TB disease can remain dormant, or inactive, in the body for many, many years. People with TB infection whose immune systems are weakened are more likely to develop TB disease. 5-10 % of people who have TB infection develop TB disease at some point in their lives.
