Tuberculosis, or TB for short, is a disease caused by bacteria called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis is a serious disease that can cause a person to become very sick if not treated appropriately.
Tuberculosis is caused by infection from the microbe, Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Although the most common site of infection is the lung, tuberculosis may also cause infections in other parts of the body, such as bone, joints, lymph nodes, gastrointestinal tract, kidneys, intestines, covering of the heart known as the pericardium, brain, and liver.
Not all persons develop tuberculosis when exposed to the Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Once exposed, some people may not develop tuberculosis, others may develop latent infection (where there are no signs and symptoms) whilst others may develop active infection or disease (either early after exposure or many years later when the latent tuberculosis reactivates).
Tuberculosis is spread through the air from one person to another. The bacteria is passed through the air droplets when someone who is sick with has tuberculosis in the lung coughs, laughs, sings, or sneezes. When you breathe air that has the tuberculosis bacteria, you may get an infection without a disease process (latent TB). This means you have dormant bacteria in your body that does not make you sick and cannot be passed to anyone else. If these dormant bacteria wake up and multiply, you will get sick with TB disease (active TB).
If you have tuberculosis infection, the chances of getting an active infection disease increases if you have HIV infection or other health problems such as diabetes that make it difficult for your body to fight bacteria.
You cannot get tuberculosis bacteria from sharing drinking containers or eating utensils, sharing cigarettes, or saliva shared from kissing.
Tuberculosis usually affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body such as lymph nodes, bones and joints, kidneys, intestines, covering of the heart known as the pericardium, brain and liver.
