Over 9. If left untreated, the disease can cause life-threatening complications like permanent lung damage. Being exposed to M. Among the 2. But it is possible for latent TB to develop into active TB. Most people with the germ have up to a 15 percent lifetime risk of getting sick with TB.
The risk can be far higher if you have conditions that compromise your immune system such as HIV infection. When you start showing symptoms, you may become contagious and have pulmonary TB. There may also be other symptoms of pulmonary TB, such as fatigue.
Your doctor will be able to tell you whether you should be tested for TB after reviewing all your symptoms. TB is airborne, which means you can become infected with M. This can be air from:. The germs can stay in the air for several hours.
But usually you have to be close to someone with TB for a long period of time to catch it. The risk for getting pulmonary TB is highest for people who are in close contact with those who have TB. This includes being around family or friends with TB or working in places such as the following that often house people with TB:. To diagnose pulmonary TB specifically, a doctor will ask a person to perform a strong cough and produce sputum up to three separate times.
The doctor will send the samples to a laboratory. At the lab, a technician will examine the sputum under a microscope to identify TB bacteria. This means they take a portion of the sputum sample and put it in a special material that makes TB bacteria grow. If TB bacteria grow, this is a positive culture. Many tuberculosis strains resist the drugs most used to treat the disease. People with active tuberculosis must take many types of medications for months to get rid of the infection and prevent antibiotic resistance.
Although your body can harbor the bacteria that cause tuberculosis, your immune system usually can prevent you from becoming sick. For this reason, doctors make a distinction between:. Tuberculosis can also affect other parts of your body, including the kidneys, spine or brain.
When TB occurs outside your lungs, signs and symptoms vary according to the organs involved. For example, tuberculosis of the spine might cause back pain, and tuberculosis in your kidneys might cause blood in your urine. See your doctor if you have a fever, unexplained weight loss, drenching night sweats or a persistent cough.
These are often indications of TB but can also result from other conditions. Also, see your doctor if you think you've been exposed to TB. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that people who have an increased risk of tuberculosis be screened for latent TB infection.
This recommendation includes people who:. Tuberculosis is caused by bacteria that spread from person to person through microscopic droplets released into the air. This can happen when someone with the untreated, active form of tuberculosis coughs, speaks, sneezes, spits, laughs or sings.
Although tuberculosis is contagious, it's not easy to catch. You're much more likely to get tuberculosis from someone you live or work with than from a stranger. When people do not take their TB medicines like they are supposed to, the infection can become much more difficult to treat. The TB bacteria can become resistant to treatment. This means the medicines no longer work.
If a person is not taking all the medicines as directed, a provider may need to watch the person take the prescribed medicines. This approach is called directly observed therapy. In this case, medicines may be given 2 or 3 times a week. You may need to stay at home or be admitted to a hospital for 2 to 4 weeks to avoid spreading the disease to others until you are no longer contagious. Your provider is required by law to report your TB illness to the local health department.
Your health care team will ensure that you receive the best care. You can ease the stress of illness by joining a support group. Sharing with others who have common experiences and problems can help you feel more in control. Symptoms often improve in 2 to 3 weeks after starting treatment. A chest x-ray will not show this improvement until weeks or months later. Outlook is excellent if pulmonary TB is diagnosed early and effective treatment is started quickly.
Pulmonary TB can cause permanent lung damage if not treated early. It can also spread to other parts of the body. A vision test may be done before start of treatment so your provider can monitor any changes in the health of your eyes. Back to Health A to Z. Tuberculosis TB is a bacterial infection spread through inhaling tiny droplets from the coughs or sneezes of an infected person. It mainly affects the lungs, but it can affect any part of the body, including the tummy abdomen , glands, bones and nervous system.
TB is a potentially serious condition, but it can be cured if it's treated with the right antibiotics. Read more about the symptoms of TB and diagnosing TB. TB is a bacterial infection. TB that affects the lungs pulmonary TB is the most contagious type, but it usually only spreads after prolonged exposure to someone with the illness.
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