Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Syndicate. Basic TB Facts. Minus Related Pages. How TB Spreads. TB Risk Factors. Page last reviewed: 12 November Next review due: 12 November Latent or active TB In most healthy people, the immune system is able to destroy the bacteria that cause TB.
Who's most at risk? Find out how to read TB skin test results here. Treatment for latent TB can vary. It may involve taking an antibiotic once a week for 12 weeks or every day for 9 months. Treatment for active TB may involve taking several drugs for 6—9 months. When a person has a drug resistant strain of TB, the treatment will be more complex.
It is essential to complete the full course of treatment, even if symptoms go away. If a person stops taking their medication early, some bacteria can survive and become resistant to antibiotics.
In this case, the person may go on to develop drug resistant TB. They can spread through the air in droplets when a person with pulmonary TB coughs, sneezes, spits, laughs, or talks. Only people with active TB can transmit the infection. However, most people with the disease can no longer transmit the bacteria after they have received appropriate treatment for at least 2 weeks.
However, experts in the U. Some of the reasons include a low risk of infection in the country and a high likelihood that the vaccine will interfere with any future TB skin tests.
People with weakened immune systems are most likely to develop active TB. The following are some issues that can weaken the immune system. This means that a person with HIV has a higher risk of developing TB and experiencing more severe symptoms than a person with a healthy immune system. Treatment for TB can be complex in a person with HIV, but a doctor can develop a comprehensive treatment plan that addresses both issues.
TB can become a complication of HIV. Learn about other complications here. Tobacco use and secondhand smoke increase the risk of developing TB. These factors also make the disease harder to treat and more likely to return after treatment. Quitting smoking and avoiding contact with smoke can reduce the risk of developing TB.
Some other health issues that weaken the immune system and can increase the risk of developing TB include:. Latent TB could develop into an active TB disease at a later date, particularly if your immune system becomes weakened. With treatment, TB can almost always be cured. A course of antibiotics will usually need to be taken for 6 months.
Several different antibiotics are used because some forms of TB are resistant to certain antibiotics. If you're infected with a drug-resistant form of TB, treatment with 6 or more different medications may be needed. If you're diagnosed with pulmonary TB, you'll be contagious for about 2 to 3 weeks into your course of treatment. You will not usually need to be isolated during this time, but it's important to take some basic precautions to stop the infection spreading to your family and friends.
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