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Tuberculosis Facts
1. What is TB?
2. How do I know if I have the TB infection or TB disease?
3. What should I do if I have TB infection?
4. Can TB disease be cured?
5. How was I exposed to TB?
1. WHAT IS TB?
TB is short for a disease called tuberculosis. TB is spread by tiny germs
that can float in the air. The TB germs may spray into the air if a person
with TB disease of the lungs or throat coughs, shouts, or sneezes. Anyone
nearby can breathe TB germs into their lungs.
TB can live in your body without making you sick. This is called TB
infection. Your immune system traps TB germs with special germ fighters.
Your germ fighters keep TB germs from making you sick.
But sometimes, the TB germs can break away and spread. Then they cause TB
disease. The germs can attack the lungs or other parts of the body. They
can go to the kidneys, the brain, or the spine. If people have TB disease,
they need medical help. If they don’t get medical help they can die.
If you have TB disease, you may:
- Feel weak
- Lose your appetite
- Lose weight
- Have a fever, or
- Sweat a lot at night.
These are signs of TB disease. The signs may last for several weeks.
Without treatment, they usually get worse.
If the TB disease is in your lungs, you may:
- Cough a lot
- Cough up mucus or phlegm (“flem”)
- Cough up blood, or
- Have chest pain when you cough.
You should always cover your mouth when you cough.
If you get TB disease in another part of your body, they symptoms will be
different. Only a doctor can tell if you have TB disease.
2. HOW DO I KNOW IF I HAVE TB INFECTION OR TB DISEASE?
A skin test is the only way to tell if you have TB infection. The skin
test is “positive” if a bump about the size of a pencil eraser or bigger
appears on your arm. This bump means you probably have TB infection.
Other tests can show if you have TB disease. An x-ray of your chest can
tell if there is damage to your lungs from TB. TB germs may be deep inside
your lungs. Phlegm (“flem”) or sputum you cough up will be tested in a
laboratory to see if the TB germs are in your lung.
If TB germs are in your lungs or throat, you can give TB infection to your
family and friends. They can get sick with TB disease. You may have to be
separated from other people until you can’t spread TB germs. This probably
won’t be for very long, if you take your medication.
3. WHAT SHOULD I DO IF I HAVE TB INFECTION?
If you have TB infection, you may need treatment so you will not get TB
disease later. This is often called “preventive” treatment. Isoniazid (INH)
is the anti-TB drug used most often.
Unless you get preventive treatment, TB infection can turn into TB
disease. Those who are more likely to get sick from TB disease include:
- Alcoholics or injection drug users
- People with certain medical conditions such as diabetes, certain types
of cancers, and being underweight; and especially
- People with HIV infection (the virus that causes AIDS).
These things make your body weaker. When your body is weaker, it can’t
fight TB germs anymore and TB infection can turn into TB disease.
It is very important that you take your preventive treatment as your
doctor recommends. It takes at least six months to a year to kill all the
TB germs. Remember, you will always have TB germs in your body unless you
kill them with the right medicine.
4. CAN TB DISEASE BE CURED?
Yes! TB disease can be cured by using special drugs that kill TB germs.
But TB germs are strong. It takes at least six months and as long as
twelve months of medication to wipe it all out. It is very important that
you take all your medication.
If you stop taking the medication too soon, it is a big problem. The TB
germs that are still alive become even stronger. You may need stronger
drugs to kill these “super” TB germs. This doesn’t have to happen. If you
take all of the medicine, the TB germs will die.
A few people have side effects to anti-TB drugs. You will get tests to
check on this.
5. HOW WAS I EXPOSED TO TB?
You may have been exposed to TB if you spent time near someone with TB
disease of the lungs or throat. You can only get infected by breathing in
TB germs that person coughs into the air. You cannot get TB from someone’s
clothes, drinking glass, handshake, or toilet.
For additional information, contact University Health Services at
989-774-6591 or
healthservices@cmich.edu or the Central Michigan District Health
Department at 989-773-5921 or visit the CDC web site at
www.cdc.gov.
Source:
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Public Health Service
Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC)
Director: Sarah Campbell,
249 Foust Hall
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Open Monday-Friday 8am - 5pm, Foust Hall
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