Image is from CDC
Tuberculosis, TB, is an airborne bacterial infection. While other organs and tissues may be involved, it normally affects the lungs first.
What You Need To Know
While most people who have TB are not contagious, the disease is spread through the air when an infected person sneezes, coughs, laughs, sings, or talks. If you are nearby and breath in those germs, there is a chance that you can become infected.
There is a difference between having active TB disease and being infected, known as latent TB. Latent TB is diagnosed when you have the TB germs in your body, but your immune system is strong enough to keep you from getting sick, and you are not contagious.
However, if you are diagnosed with active TB disease, you will have symptoms and you will be contagious. Therefore, it is critical to see a doctor right away.
Unfortunately, there are some forms of TB that are not eliminated with the usual medications prescribed. That means the TB germs in your body are resistant to them. These types of TB are classified as MDR TB and XDR TB.
MDR TB (multi-drug resistant) is resistant to the standard medication regime for active TB and is more serious. XDR TB is resistant to both standard and secondary drugs for treatment and any treatment rendered can be longer, expensive and more difficult. These forms of TB occur when medication is mismanaged or misused. For example:
- If you do not complete the full course of treatment
- If your doctor prescribes the wrong treatment, dose, or duration.
- If medication is not available
- If medication is of poor quality
It is more common in people who:
- Do not take their medication regularly
- Do not take medications for the full duration of treatment
- Contract it a second time
- Come from places where drug-resistant TB is more common
- Have been around someone who has it
The good news is it is not easy to contract TB. You usually have to be close to someone infected for a long time. This is why it is often spread between family members, coworkers, and close friends.
What TB Does To Your Body
If you have a weakened immune system, you are at greater risk for developing TB. Some examples of conditions, treatments, and ages that cause weakened immunity are:
- HIV/AIDS
- Leukemia
- Viral Hepatitis
- Multiple Myeloma
- Getting Chemotherapy
- Elderly
- Children under the age of 5
If you any of the above apply, the bacteria associated with TB is likely to settle in your lungs and start growing right away, because your immune system isn’t strong enough to fight it off. The disease will develop quickly, within days or weeks. If you are healthy and contract TB, it may take months, or even years to develop.
While TB attacks the lungs, it can also invade other parts of the body, such as:
- Spine
- Brain
- Kidneys
- Bones
- Lymph Nodes
- Skin
This is because the bacteria can move from the lungs through the blood and lymphatic systems. Symptoms of active disease include:
- Cough
- Weight Loss
- Night Sweats
- Fever
- Chills
If other parts of the body are infected, symptoms specific to that area will occur. For example, if it has spread to your bones, you will have bone pain.
Despite what many people think, TB is not a disease of the past. About one third of the world’s population are infected. That is almost 2.5 billion people. Of those people 9.6 million have active TB. It is curable, however. Therefore it is important to recognize the symptoms, see a doctor right away, and follow the treatment ordered.