Tuberculosis (tb)

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Tuberculosis is a chronic contagious infection caused by the airborne bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It usually affects the lungs.

Tuberculosis is spread mainly when people breathe air contaminated by a person who has active disease.
Cough is the most common symptom, but people may also have a fever and night sweats, lose weight, feel generally unwell, and, if tuberculosis affects other organs, have various other symptoms.
The diagnosis usually involves a tuberculin skin test or a blood test, a chest x-ray, and examination and culture of a sputum sample.
Two or more antibiotics are always given to reduce the chances of bacterial resistance.
Early diagnosis and treatment plus isolation of people with active disease until they have responded to treatment help prevent tuberculosis from spreading.

Tuberculosis usually affects the lungs, although it can affect almost any organ in the body.
Tuberculosis is caused by bacteria called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Other related bacteria (called mycobacteria), such as Mycobacterium bovis or Mycobacterium africanum, occasionally cause a similar disease. These bacteria plus Mycobacterium tuberculosis and some others are called the mycobacterium tuberculosis complex.
Other mycobacteria, particularly the group called mycobacterium avium complex (MAC), also cause disease in people. These diseases they cause are different from tuberculosis.
Leprosy is caused by other mycobacteria.