Tuberculosis Symptoms

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About Tuberculosis

Many people think tuberculosis (TB) is a disease of the past. But, tuberculosis is still a leading killer of young adults worldwide. Some 2 billion people – one-third of the world's population – are infected with the tuberculosis bacterium, M. tuberculosis. tuberculosis is a chronic bacterial infection.

It is spread through the air and usually infects the lungs, although other organs are sometimes involved. Most persons that are infected with M. tuberculosis harbor the bacterium without symptoms but many develop active tuberculosis disease. Each year, 8 million people worldwide develop active tuberculosis and 3 million die.

Tuberculosis is an Airborne Disease

Tuberculosis is primarily an airborne disease. The disease is spread from person to person in tiny microscopic droplets when a tuberculosis sufferer coughs, sneezes, speaks, sings, or laughs. Only people with active disease are contagious.

Adequate ventilation is the most important measure to prevent the transmission of Tuberculosis.

Symptoms

One in ten people that are infected with M. tuberculosis may develop active TB at some time in their lives. The risk of developing active disease is greatest in the first year after infection, but active disease often does not occur until many years later.

Early symptoms of active tuberculosis can include weight loss, fever, night sweats, and loss of appetite, or they may be vague and go unnoticed by the affected individual. One in three patients with tuberculosis will die within weeks to months if the disease is not treated.

For the rest, their disease either goes into remission (halts) or becomes chronic and more debilitating with cough, chest pain, and bloody sputum.

Diagnosis

Doctors can identify most people infected with M. tuberculosis with a skin test. They will inject a substance under the skin of the forearm. If a red welt forms around the injection site within 72 hours, the person may have been infected.

This doesn't necessarily mean he or she has active disease. Most people with previous exposure to M. tuberculosis will test positive on the tuberculin test, as will some people exposed to bacteria that are related to the tuberculosis germ.

Cure

With appropriate antibiotic treatment, tuberculosis can be cured in more than nine out of ten patients.

Treatment

Treatment for MDR-tuberculosis often requires the use of special tuberculosis drugs, all of which can produce serious side effects.

To cure MDR-tuberculosis , patients may have to take several antibiotics, at least three to which the bacteria still respond, every day for up to two years.

Reference for Tuberculosis Article

National Institutes of Health

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