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Tuberculosis (TB) Is An

Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis that generally affects the lungs but can affect other parts of the body. Most infections are latent and asymptomatic, but about 10% of latent infections progress to active disease which can be fatal if left untreated. TB spreads through the air when people with active lung TB cough, spit, speak, or sneeze. Diagnosis involves chest x-rays, microscopic exams, and culture tests while prevention relies on screening high risk groups and treating cases early through antibiotics over long periods.

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22 views

Tuberculosis (TB) Is An

Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis that generally affects the lungs but can affect other parts of the body. Most infections are latent and asymptomatic, but about 10% of latent infections progress to active disease which can be fatal if left untreated. TB spreads through the air when people with active lung TB cough, spit, speak, or sneeze. Diagnosis involves chest x-rays, microscopic exams, and culture tests while prevention relies on screening high risk groups and treating cases early through antibiotics over long periods.

Uploaded by

jennelynlumbre
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium

tuberculosis (MTB).[1] Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but can also affect other parts of the
body.[1] Most infections do not have symptoms, in which case it is known as latent
tuberculosis.[1] About 10% of latent infections progress to active disease which, if left untreated, kills
about half of those infected.[1] The classic symptoms of active TB are a chronic cough with blood-
containing sputum, fever, night sweats, and weight loss.[1] The historical term "consumption" came
about due to the weight loss.[4] Infection of other organs can cause a wide range of symptoms.[5]
Tuberculosis is spread through the air when people who have active TB in their lungs cough, spit,
speak, or sneeze.[1][6] People with latent TB do not spread the disease.[1] Active infection occurs more
often in people with HIV/AIDS and in those who smoke.[1] Diagnosis of active TB is based on chest
X-rays, as well as microscopic examination and culture of body fluids.[7]Diagnosis of latent TB relies
on the tuberculin skin test (TST) or blood tests.[7]
Prevention of TB involves screening those at high risk, early detection and treatment of cases,
and vaccination with the bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine.[8][9][10] Those at high risk include
household, workplace, and social contacts of people with active TB.[10] Treatment requires the use of
multiple antibiotics over a long period of time.[1] Antibiotic resistance is a growing problem with
increasing rates of multiple drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) and extensively drug-resistant
tuberculosis (XDR-TB).[1]
Presently, one-third of the world's population is thought to be infected with TB.[1] New infections
occur in about 1% of the population each year.[11] In 2016, there were more than 10 million cases of
active TB which resulted in 1.3 million deaths.[3] This makes it the number one cause of death from
an infectious disease.[3] More than 95% of deaths occurred in developing countries, and more than
50% in India, China, Indonesia, Pakistan, and the Philippines.[3] The number of new cases each year
has decreased since 2000.[1] About 80% of people in many Asian and African countries test positive
while 5–10% of people in the United States population test positive by the tuberculin
test.[12] Tuberculosis has been present in humans since ancient times.[13]
Symptoms:

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