What is tuberculosis (TB)?
Tuberculosis is a chronic infectious disease caused by bacteria, which usually attack the lungs. The bacteria can destroy parts of the lungs, making it difficult to breathe. |
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TB 'a global emergency'
The World Health Organisation has declared TB a global emergency - estimating that a third of the world's population is infected. |
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What causes TB?
TB is caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis which usually spreads through the air from an infectious person to others. |
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Symptoms of TB
Some people have mild symptoms or none at all and therefore they might spread bacteria without even knowing they have TB. |
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How TB develops
Once you are infected by the TB bacteria you may develop active disease, or your body may control the bacteria - you will be infected, but will not have active TB. |
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Risk factors of TB
People with weak immune systems are at high risk of developing TB disease. |
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TB: When to see a doctor
Contact a doctor when you think you might have been exposed to TB, or if symptoms develop. |
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Diagnosing TB
The diagnosis of TB is not always easy to make and a lot of research is being done to find tests that are more reliable or quicker than the currently available tests. |
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Treating TB
Preventive therapy (PT) against TB involves infected people taking anti-TB drugs to prevent progression to active disease. |
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XDR-TB
XDR-TB is MDR-TB that has also become resistant to three or more of the six classes of second-line drugs. |
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MDR-TB
Multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) is when bacteria become resistant to at least two first-line therapies. |
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TB prevention
Most important in TB prevention is for people with infectious TB to take their medicine as prescribed. |
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Drug-resistant TB
Multi drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is a strain of TB bacteria that has become resistant to TB drugs.
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