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Bacteria can spread to and damage other parts of the body, such as the digestive and urogenital tracts, bones, joints, nervous system, lymph nodes and skin. This is called extrapulmonary TB, and is far less common. The disease is characterized by the development of granulomas or tubercles in infected tissues.

Description

• Tuberculosis, or TB, is a chronic infectious disease caused by a bacterium called Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
• It usually affects the lungs, but can attack other parts of the body.
• TB is mainly spread by breathing in air-borne TB bacteria from people with active infectious TB disease.
• A person can be infected by the TB organism for years without getting sick or spreading the disease to others.
• If your immune system is weakened for some reason, TB infection can develop into active disease.
• Although TB can be treated, the minimum period required for successful treatment is six months, and medication must be taken exactly as prescribed.
• Failure to complete the treatment regimen can result in the emergence of drug resistant strains of TB.
• In some parts of the world, such as South Africa, TB is the most important opportunistic infection of people with HIV.
• TB is a global problem, although undeveloped countries usually have much higher incidences than developed countries.
• South Africa has one of the highest reported TB infection rates in the world.

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