What is tuberculosis?
TB, or tuberculosis, is a disease caused by bacteria called MYCOBACTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS. The bacteria can attack any part of your body, but they usually attack the lungs. TB disease was once the leading cause of death in the United States. In the 1940s, scientists discovered the first of several drugs now used to treat TB. As a result, TB slowly began to disappear in the United States. But TB has come back worldwide. TB is spread through the air from one person to another. The bacteria are put into the air when a person with TB disease of the lungs or throat coughs or sneezes. People nearby may breathe in these bacteria and become infected. People who are infected with TB do not feel sick, do not have any symptoms, and cannot spread TB. But they may develop TB disease at some time in the future. People with TB disease can be treated and cured if they seek medical help, although treatment may be long. Even better, today people who have TB infection but are not yet sick can take medicine
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease caused by the Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacterium. The disease typically attacks the lungs of the infected person, but it may attack other parts of the body as well. Considered one of the most deadly diseases of our time, TB affects an estimated two billion people around the world. Tuberculosis is spread from person to person through droplets in the air. When an infected person coughs, sneezes, speaks, or spits, droplets containing the tuberculosis bacteria are expelled. If another person inhales even a small number of these droplets, he or she may be infected. Though tuberculosis is contagious, the disease is not very easy to catch. Usually, transmission of the disease requires repeated contact. In most cases, a person has to be close to an infected individual for quite some time in order to become infected with TB. For this reason, the disease is most easily spread among friends, family members, and roommates. Furthermore, a person is at in
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease caused by bacteria whose scientific name is Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It was first isolated in 1882 by a German physician named Robert Koch who received the Nobel prize for this discovery. TB most commonly affects the lungs but also can involve almost any organ of the body. Many years ago, this disease was referred to as “consumption” because without effective treatment, these patients often would waste away. Today, of course, tuberculosis usually can be treated successfully with antibiotics. There is also a group of organisms referred to as atypical tuberculosis. These involve other types of bacteria that are in the Mycobacterium family. Often, these organisms do not cause disease and are referred to a “colonizers,” because they simply live alongside other bacteria in our bodies without causing damage. At times, these bacteria can cause an infection that is sometimes clinically like typical tuberculosis. When these atypical mycobacteria cau
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infection caused by slow-growing bacteria that grow best in areas of the body that have lots of blood and oxygen. That’s why it is most often found in the lungs. This is called pulmonary TB. But TB can also spread to other parts of the body, which is called extrapulmonary TB. Treatment is often a success, but it is a long process. It takes about 6 to 9 months to treat TB. Tuberculosis is either latent or active. • Latent TB means that you have the TB bacteria in your body, but your body’s defenses (immune system) fight the infection and try to keep it from turning into active TB. This means that you don’t have any symptoms of TB right now and can’t spread the disease to others. If you have latent TB, it can become active TB. • Active TB means that the TB bacteria are growing and causing symptoms. If your lungs are infected with active TB, it is easy to spread the disease to others.
