Active Tuberculosis

Active tuberculosis is a condition in which your body's immune system is unable to fight off the TB bacteria, therefore causing infection in the lungs or other parts of the body like the kidneys, spine, or brain. Symptoms of active tuberculosis may include a bad cough that lasts 3 weeks or longer, pain in the chest, or coughing up blood or sputum. Active tuberculosis treatment can be as long as 12 months and typically involves taking several different antibiotics.

 

An Overview of Active Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis (TB) is a chronic bacterial infection caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It is spread through the air and usually infects the lungs, although other organs and parts of the body can be involved as well. Most people who are infected with tuberculosis harbor the tuberculosis bacterium without any tuberculosis symptoms. This is known as latent tuberculosis.
 
If the body's resistance is low because of aging, malnutrition, infections such as HIV, or other reasons, the bacteria may break out of hiding and cause active tuberculosis.
 

Impact of Active Tuberculosis

According to World Health Organization (WHO) estimates, each year, 8 million people worldwide develop active tuberculosis and nearly 2 million die. One in 10 people who are infected with tuberculosis bacteria may develop active tuberculosis at some time in their lives. The risk of developing active tuberculosis is greatest in the first year after infection, but active tuberculosis often does not occur until many years later.
 
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Written by/reviewed by: Arthur Schoenstadt, MD
Last reviewed by: Arthur Schoenstadt, MD