Fact Sheet

Tuberculosis (TB) is a disease that is spread from person to person through the air. It is caused by bacteria called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. TB usually infects the lungs but can infect most organs of the body. Bacteria get into the air when a person with TB of the lungs coughs, sneezes, laughs, or sings. If you are with someone who has infectious TB for 6-8 hours, in face-to-face contact, there is the possibility of being infected with TB. Tuberculosis is a disease that can be cured if treated properly.

Anyone can get TB, but some people have more risk. Some of the people at higher risk are, infants and small children, household members of someone with TB disease, and people with chronic health conditions.

The symptoms of TB disease may include: Feeling weak or sick for three weeks or more, rapid unexplained weight loss (over a few weeks or months), fever, or night sweats, cough lasting more than three weeks, chest pain, or coughing up blood. Other symptoms depend on the particular part of the body that is affected.

TB infection is different than TB disease

People with TB disease are sick from germs that are active in their body. They usually have one or more of the symptoms of TB. These people may be capable of giving the infection to others. Medications can cure TB disease; usually three or more medications are given to treat TB disease. People with TB infection (without disease) have the bacteria that cause TB in their body. They are not sick because the germ is not active in the body. They cannot spread the germ to others. Medications are often prescribed for these people to prevent them from developing TB disease in the future.

A skin test can tell if you have TB infection

You can get a TB skin test from a health care provider. A negative test usually means the person is not infected. However, the test may be falsely negative in a person who has been recently infected (it usually takes 2 to 10 weeks after exposure to a person with TB disease for the skin test to be positive). The test may also be falsely negative if the person's immune system is not working properly.

A positive skin test reaction usually means that the person has been infected with TB. It does not necessarily mean that the person has TB disease. Other tests, such as an x-ray or sputum sample, maybe needed to see if the person has TB disease.

If you have symptoms of TB you should contact your health care provider for a health care evaluations and treatment if needed.

Contra Costa Health Services/Public Health
Adapted from Centers for Disease Control "Tuberculosis—Get the Facts!"
June 14, 2007

Content provided by the Public Health Division of Contra Costa Health Services.