What Is Tuberculosis?

Tuberculosis (TB) is a contagious infection that usually attacks your lungs. It can also spread to other parts of your body, like your brain and spine. A type of bacteria called Mycobacterium tuberculosis causes it.

This bacteria is thought to be over 3 million years old. Knowledge of the disease dates back to ancient Greece and Rome. Tuberculosis, formerly called consumption, was the top cause of death in the U.S. at the beginning of the 20th century. While it's largely controlled in the U.S. now, it still kills more than a million people worldwide every year. People with HIV/AIDS and others with weakened immune systems are at higher risk of getting tuberculosis because their bodies have a harder time fighting the bacteria.

Tuberculosis Types

A TB infection doesn’t always mean you’ll get sick. There are several stages and forms of the disease:

Primary TB: This is the first stage of a tuberculosis infection. Your immune system may be able to fight off the germs. But sometimes it doesn't destroy all of them, and they keep multiplying. You may not have any TB symptoms at this stage, or you might have a few flu-like symptoms.

Latent TB: You have the germs in your body, but your immune system keeps them from spreading. You don’t have any symptoms, and you’re not contagious. But the infection is still alive and can one day become active. If you’re at high risk for reactivation, your doctor will give you medications to prevent active TB. This usually happens if you have HIV, you had an infection in the past 2 years, your chest X-ray is unusual, or your immune system is weakened.

Active TB: The germs multiply and make you sick. You can spread the disease to others. Some 90% of active cases in adults come from a latent TB infection.

Active TB outside the lungs: A tuberculosis infection that spreads from your lungs to other parts of the body is known as extrapulmonary tuberculosis. Your symptoms will depend on which part of your body the infection affects. Tuberculosis Symptoms

Latent TB doesn’t have symptoms. A skin or blood test can tell if you have it.

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