TB:- Tuberculosis
TB stands for Tuberculosis. It is an infectious disease usually caused by bacterium Mycobacterium Tuberculosis (MTB). Generally, lungs are the main organs to be affected by TB but other organs can also be affected. Most of the people infected by TB don’t show the symptoms of TB, in which case it is known as latent TB. Of all the latent tuberculosis cases about 1/10th of these get converted to active disease which is left untreated leads to death in almost half of them. TB spreads when an affected person having active disease in their lungs a cough, spit, speak or sneeze. People with latent diseases are incapable of spreading the disease. Diagnosis of TB happens on the basis of Chest X-Rays, microscopic examination and culture of body fluids. TB can be prevented by the use of vaccination with BCG (Bacillus Calmette – Guerin). The treatment of TB requires consumption of multiple Antibiotics over a long period of time (approx six months).
