What is tuberculosis?
Tuberculous or TB is an illness caused by a germ called “Mycobacterium tuberculosis”.
The lung is most commonly infected. However, the germ may occasionally spread from the lung to infect the lymph glands, bones and joints, kidneys, and many other parts of the body.
How do you catch tuberculosis?
Tuberculosis is caught by breathing in the tiny drops coughed up or sneezed by a person who has TB. These drops are invisible and may contain TB germs. Once inhaled, the germs invade the lungs and slowly multiply. At this stage, the body’s own defences may fight off the infection. This often happens during childhood in countries where TB is common. Such TB infection may cause no symptoms or result in no more than a mild “flu” like illness. Only 10-20% of people infected in this way ever develop TB disease, mostly within one to two years. In the remainder, the germ may then cause no further trouble. However, in a small percentage, it may become active later in adult life when other illness or increasing age results in a weakening of the body’s natural defences.
Who gets tuberculosis?
About 1200 new cases of TB are found and treated in Australia each year. Newly arrived immigrants and refugees, who caught the infection prior to arrival in Australia, are at increased risk. A person who is infected is more likely to develop TB disease if they also have low resistance to infection, poor nutrition, severe illness, or drink alcohol excessively. In these people, disease may occur many years later when the immune defences are weakened. However, the TB germ most commonly causes disease in people who are otherwise in good health and often in the first few years after migration.
What are the symptoms of tuberculosis?
The most common symptom of TB is a persistent cough, lasting for more than three weeks. Other symptoms of TB include fever, loss of energy, sweats, particularly at night, and weight loss. The cough may produce phlegm and sometimes blood. The symptoms are often mild at first and develop slowly. TB is usually first suspected when changes are seen on a chest x-ray.
Read more about diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis on our fact sheet.
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