Minus Related Pages. Those at high risk for developing TB disease include: People with HIV infection People who became infected with TB bacteria in the last 2 years Babies and young children People who inject illegal drugs People who are sick with other diseases that weaken the immune system Elderly people People who were not treated correctly for TB in the past If you have latent TB infection and you are in one of these high-risk groups, you should take medicine to keep from developing TB disease.
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To tell if someone has TB disease , other tests such as chest x-ray and a sample of sputum phlegm that is coughed up from deep in the lungs may be needed. If you have latent TB infection , you may need medicine to prevent getting TB disease later.
One or more drugs are used to treat latent TB infection. It is important that you take your medicine exactly as your doctor or health care worker tells you. TB disease can also be treated by taking medicine. If you have TB disease , it is very important that you finish the medicine, and take the drugs exactly as you are told.
If you stop taking the drugs too soon, you can become sick again. If you do not take the drugs correctly, the germs that are still alive may become difficult to treat with those drugs. If you have TB disease , it takes six months and possibly as long as one year to kill all the TB germs.
Remember, you will always have TB germs in your body unless you kill them with the right medicine. These people have conditions that make the body weaker, so it is difficult for them to fight TB germs. TB is caused when a person breathes in TB bacteria that are in the air.
So it is important that people with TB, who are not on effective treatment, do not release TB bacteria into the air when they cough. Cough etiquette means that if you have TB, or you might have TB, then when you cough you should cover your mouth and nose with a tissue. You should put your used tissue in a bin. If you don't have a tissue then you should cough or sneeze into your upper sleeve or elbow. You should not cough into your hands.
After you have coughed you should wash your hands. The BCG vaccine has been shown to provide children with excellent protection against the disseminated forms of TB.
However protection against pulmonary TB in adults is variable. Since most transmission originates from adult cases of pulmonary TB, the BCG vaccine is generally used to protect children, rather than to interrupt transmission among adults. The BCG vaccine will often result in the person vaccinated having a positive result to a TB skin test.
TB education is necessary for people with TB. People with TB need to know how to take their TB drugs properly. They also need to know how to make sure that they do not pass TB on to other people. But TB education is also necessary for the general public. The public needs to know basic information about TB for a number of reasons including reducing the stigma still associated with TB. TB drug treatment for the prevention of TB, also known as chemoprophylaxis, can reduce the risk of a first episode of active TB occurring in people with latent TB.
The surviving bacteria become resistant to that drug and often other antibiotics as well. Some TB bacteria have developed resistance to the most commonly used treatments, such as isoniazid and rifampin Rifadin, Rimactane. Some TB strains have also developed resistance to drugs less commonly used in TB treatment, such as the antibiotics known as fluoroquinolones, and injectable medications including amikacin and capreomycin Capastat.
These medications are often used to treat infections that are resistant to the more commonly used drugs. A healthy immune system often successfully fights TB bacteria.
However, several conditions and medications can weaken your immune system, including:. Your risk of getting tuberculosis is higher if you live in, emigrate from or travel to areas with high tuberculosis rates.
Areas include:. Without treatment, tuberculosis can be fatal. Untreated active disease typically affects your lungs, but it can affect other parts of your body, as well. If you test positive for latent TB infection, your doctor might advise you to take medications to reduce your risk of developing active tuberculosis. Only active TB is contagious.
If you have active TB , it generally takes a few weeks of treatment with TB medications before you're not contagious anymore. Follow these tips to help keep your friends and family from getting sick:.
This is the most important step you can take to protect yourself and others from tuberculosis. When you stop treatment early or skip doses, TB bacteria have a chance to develop mutations that allow them to survive the most potent TB drugs.
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