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.
- More than 2 billion people, 1/3 of the world’s population, are infected with TB bacilli, the microbes that cause TB. A person may carry the TB bacteria and not get sick.
- 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 2006 including 231,000 people with HIV.
- 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.
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