11 Facts About Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis (TB) is contagious and spreads through the air; if not treated, each person with active TB infects on average 10 to 15 people a year.
There were 9.4 million tuberculosis cases in 2009, but the TB death rate has fallen 35% since 1990.
1 in 10 people infected with TB bacteria will become sick with active TB in their lifetime; people with HIV are at much greater risk.
1.7 million people died from TB in 2009 including 380,000 people with HIV, equaling to 4,700 deaths per day.
TB is a leading killer of people with HIV. People who are HIV-positive and carry the TB germs are up to 50 times more likely to develop active TB in their lifetime.
TB is a disease of poverty. The vast majority of TB deaths are in the developing world, with more than ½ of all deaths occurring in Asia.
People with active TB disease must complete a course of treatment for six months or more.
Spotty monitoring and drug intake and poor health infrastructure have encouraged drug-resistant strains of TB to thrive.
Multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB) and Extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB) are forms of tuberculosis that are extremely difficult to treat since they fail to respond to traditional drugs.
Drug-resistant TB thrives and spreads quickly in prisons and hospitals because of close quarter, poor sanitation, lack of ventilation and poor protective measures.
Just one mismanaged TB patient (not taking meds properly and/or not quarantined) can cause an outbreak in a contained environment, like a hospital or prison.