Introduction

Welcome to tuberculosisdisease.webnode.com, your one-stop resource for information on tuberculosis!

Overview

Tuberculosis (TB) is a contagious, potentially lethal disease which primarily affects the lungs but may spread to other parts of the body such as the nervous system or bones. It is usually caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria and spread when a person inhales bacterium-containing droplets sneezed or coughed out by a person with infectious tuberculosis.  The world is currently experiencing a TB epidemic, with a third of the world's population believed to be harbouring Mycobacterium tuberculosis. This epidemic is being driven by a number of factors, including the increase in multi-drug (MDR-TB) and extensive multi-drug (XDR-TB) resistant strains of TB and the concurrent HIV and AIDS epidemic.   

There are three basic types of TB:

1. In the majority of cases, the immune system is able to kill the bacteria with no further symptoms.

2. Latent TB – the immune system is unable to kill the bacteria but is able to contain the infection. In this case, no further symptoms are experienced    (unless the infection is re-activated) but the bacteria are still present

3. Active TB – the immune system is unable to kill or contain the infection, so that it may spread through the body.

Banner image used courtesy of Wikimedia Commons under creative commons licence: Original image