Hesperian Health Guides
What Is TB?
TB is caused by a small germ, or bacteria. If the TB germ enters a person’s body, it can infect them. An infected person will carry TB inside them, probably for life. Healthy people usually fight off TB sickness. Only about 1 out of 10 persons infected with TB becomes sick with TB in their lifetime.
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diabetesSometimes, especially when someone has HIV, TB germs attack other parts of the body, like the lymph nodes, bones, or joints. This is called extrapulmonary TB.
People who are undernourished, diabetic, very young or very old, or infected with HIV are less able to fight off TB disease. Usually TB disease starts in the lungs, where TB germs eat holes in the tissue and destroy blood vessels. As the body tries to fight the disease, the holes fill with pus and small amounts of blood.
Without treatment, the body starts to waste away, and the person usually dies within 5 years. Someone who has both HIV and TB may die in just a few months without treatment. But treatment can cure TB completely.