Tuberculosis

What is tuberculosis and how is it treated?

Ask the Expert
October 2015

Q: What is TB, how it spreads and how it treated?

A: Tuberculosis is a disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, a bacterium that usually affects the lungs. It is curable and preventable.

TB is spread from person to person through the air. When a patient with pulmonary tuberculosis coughs, sneezes or spits, tubercle bacilli expelled into the air. Just a person inhale a few bacilli to become infected.

An estimated one third of the global population have latent tuberculosis; that is, those people are infected with the bacillus but (still) have not become ill or can transmit the infection.

People infected with the tubercle bacillus have throughout life is a risk of falling ill with tuberculosis than 10%. However, this risk is much higher for people whose immune systems are damaged, as in cases of HIV infection, malnutrition or diabetes, or those who use snuff.

When the active form of the disease occurs, symptoms (cough, fever, night sweats, weight loss, etc.) can be mild for many months. As a result, patients sometimes slow to seek medical attention and spread the bacteria to others. Over a year, a tuberculosis patient can infect 10-15 people a close contact. If not properly treated, up to two thirds of TB patients die.

Since 2000, we have saved over 43 million lives through diagnosis and effective treatment. The active form of the disease that is sensitive to antibiotics administered for six months is a standard combination of four antimicrobial drugs, along with the provision of information, supervision and patient support by a health worker or a trained volunteer. The vast majority of TB patients can be cured provided that the drugs are provided and taken correctly.