Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis is a bacterial infection that usually affects the lungs but can also impact the brain, spine and other parts of the body. While not everyone who gets TB will be symptomatic, typical symptoms of pulmonary TB include coughing up blood, chest pain, a persistent cough lasting several weeks or more, loss of appetite and concurrent weight loss, night sweats, chills, fever and fatigue. TB infections can be treated with extended drug therapy lasting up to nine months. Patients with latent (non-symptomatic) TB are not contagious but need to take certain steps to avoid developing a symptomatic form of the disease. While vaccinations against TB are given to infants in other parts of the world, the CDC has not recommended that children in the U.S. receive this inoculation due to its relative ineffectiveness in adults. However, new vaccines are constantly being developed and tested.