Hesperian Health Guides
Chapter 25: Tuberculosis
With proper treatment, TB can almost always be cured.
Tuberculosis (TB) is a serious disease that most often affects the lungs. TB spreads easily in crowded conditionsâfor example, in cities, slums, prisons, refugee camps, factories, and office buildingsâespecially in indoor areas where the air does not move much. People who work in dusty conditions, especially where there is dust from mining or stone crushing, are at high risk of getting sick with TB.
TB is especially dangerous for people with HIV. TB makes HIV disease progress faster, and HIV weakens the immune system and allows people with TB infection to develop TB sickness (active TB) faster. TB can be cured with medicines. If you have TB, see a health worker and get treatment.
Women and TB
TB affects both men and women, but fewer women get treatment. Many women die from TB because they never knew they had it, they did not get treatment, or they also had HIV. Treatment can be more difficult for a woman to get because she may not be able to leave her family and work, or she does not have the money to travel to a clinic or to take a full course of medicine. In some places a woman may not seek treatment because she fears her husband will reject her as âsicklyâ or too weak to do her work. A woman who works outside the home may be afraid she will be dismissed because her employer thinks she will infect others. Caring for sick family members also puts women at greater risk of getting TB.