Tuberculosis (TB)

Tuberculosis (TB) is a bacterial infection. It usually spreads when someone breathes in tiny droplets from the cough or sneeze of a person who already has the infection.

TB is a serious illness. Antibiotics can treat it, but in some cases it can still be life-threatening, even with treatment. There's a vaccine that helps protect some people who are at risk.

TB mainly affects the lungs, and this is known as pulmonary TB. It can also affect any part of the body, including the glands, bones and nervous system. When it does, it is known as extrapulmonary TB.

TB symptoms usually come on slowly. Sometimes the infection causes no symptoms at all, and this is known as latent TB. If you do have symptoms, it's called active TB.

These are the symptoms people with pulmonary TB commonly have:

• a persistent cough that lasts more than 3 weeks and usually brings up mucus (phlegm), which may be bloody
• weight loss
• night sweats
• high temperature (fever)
• tiredness and fatigue
• loss of appetite
• new swellings or lumps that haven't gone away after a few weeks
• breathlessness that gradually gets worse

When TB spreads outside the lungs (this is called extrapulmonary TB), the symptoms can include:

• persistent swollen glands
• abdominal (tummy) pain
• pain and loss of movement in an affected bone or joint
• confusion
• a persistent headache
• seizures (fits)

The symptoms of pulmonary and extrapulmonary TB can have many different causes, so they are not always a sign of TB.

Go to a hospital emergency department if you:

• have a stiff neck and a severe headache
• find it painful to look at bright lights
• have had a seizure or fit
• have had a change in behaviour, like sudden confusion
• have weakness or loss of movement in part of the body

These could be signs that TB has spread to your brain (meningitis).

• See a doctor urgently if you're coughing up blood, or mucus (phlegm) with blood in it.

If you can't reach a doctor, phone the 16263 health line.

Contact a doctor if you:

• have had a cough for more than 3 weeks
• are feeling tired or exhausted and you're not sure why
• have a high temperature or night sweats that do not go away
• often do not feel hungry
• keep losing weight without changing your diet or exercise routine
• have new swellings or lumps that haven't gone away after a few weeks
• have spent a lot of time with someone who has TB and has symptoms (for example, you live with someone who has it)

Doctors use several different tests to diagnose TB (tuberculosis). Which ones you'll need depends on the type of TB you may have.

You may have no symptoms but still be at risk of TB, for example because you've been in close contact with someone who has TB. In that case, you may need a test for latent TB infection. The common ones are blood tests and the Mantoux test.

Interferon gamma release assay (IGRA) is a newer type of blood test for TB, and it's becoming more widely available.

The Mantoux test is a skin test. A small amount of liquid is injected under the skin in your arm, and if you have TB infection, this liquid will cause a small reaction on your skin.

Tests for active TB can include:

• an X-ray, ultrasound, MRI scan or CT scan of your chest or the part of your body that may be affected
• taking samples of your mucus (phlegm)
• blood tests
• a biopsy (a small sample of tissue or fluid is taken from the affected area and tested for TB bacteria)

If your doctor thinks you have TB, they may refer you to a TB specialist for testing and treatment.

Tuberculosis (TB) is treated mainly with antibiotics, and you need to take them for at least 6 months. Several different antibiotics are used together. If your TB is a drug-resistant form, you may need extra medicines, and the treatment may take longer.

Most people are no longer infectious after 2 weeks of taking the medicine, and they feel better too.

If TB has spread to your brain, spinal cord or the area around your heart, you may also need steroid medicine for a few weeks.

You can also have TB without any symptoms. This is called latent TB infection, and it usually needs antibiotics for 3 to 6 months. If the infection is thought to be drug-resistant, it's not always treated. In that case, you may be monitored regularly to check that the infection doesn't become active.

Take your antibiotics exactly as you've been told. Keep taking them until you've finished the whole course, even if you start to feel better.

If you stop your TB treatment early, or you miss a dose, the TB infection may become resistant to the antibiotics, and the infection could come back.

Most people with TB won't need to stay in hospital for their treatment.

Tuberculosis (TB) is caused by a bacterium called mycobacterium tuberculosis.

The infection spreads when a person with active TB coughs or sneezes, and someone else breathes in the droplets they send out, which carry the TB bacteria. It usually takes prolonged contact with the sick person for this to happen. That's why TB often spreads within a family who live in the same house.

Not everyone with TB is infectious, though. People whose TB occurs outside the lungs (extrapulmonary TB) generally don't pass the infection on.

Anyone can catch TB, but you may be more at risk if you:

• were born in, live in or have spent time in a country or area with high levels of TB
• have close contact over a long time with someone who has active TB
• have a condition that weakens your immune system, like HIV
• are having treatments that weaken the immune system, like corticosteroids or chemotherapy
• are very young or very old (the immune systems of young or elderly people can be weaker)
• live in overcrowded or unhealthy conditions, like people who are homeless
• are in poor health or have a poor diet
• regularly smoke, drink alcohol or take drugs

If you're diagnosed with pulmonary TB, you'll stay contagious for up to 2 to 3 weeks after you start treatment. You usually won't need to be kept apart from others during this time. Still, you should take steps to stop the TB spreading to your family and friends.

• stay away from work, school or college until your doctor or care team tell you it's safe to go back
• always cover your mouth with a disposable tissue when you cough, sneeze or laugh
• throw used tissues away carefully, in a sealed plastic bag
• open windows when you can, so fresh air gets into the rooms where you spend time

Do not sleep in the same room as other people. You could cough or sneeze in your sleep without realising it.

The BCG vaccine can give effective protection against tuberculosis (TB). At present, it's offered to babies who are more likely to come into contact with someone who has TB.

A baby can get the BCG vaccine if they:

• have a parent or grandparent who was born in a country with a high rate of TB
• will soon live in an area with a high rate of TB, for more than 3 months
• have been living with, or have had regular close contact with, someone who has or has had TB

If you're unsure whether your baby meets these criteria, please speak to a doctor.