What happens when someone breathes in TB germs?
When you first breathe in TB germs into your lungs, your body protects you by building a wall around the germs the way a scab forms over a cut. This makes the germs go to “sleep” and stops them from hurting your body. Sleeping TB germs are called “latent TB”. A person with latent TB are said to have latent TB infection (LTBI). Latent TB germs can stay asleep for a long time, sometimes for life. However, sometimes TB germs “wake up” when body defenses are weakened. When this happens, you have active TB disease.
