Tuberculosis in the News: What It Means to You

Kansas recently reported an outbreak of tuberculosis. While The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and health officials in Kansas called it one of the largest outbreaks in U.S. history, officials say the risk to the public is very low. What is tuberculosis, and how does it spread?

What Is Tuberculosis?

Tuberculosis, or TB, is an infection caused by bacteria called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. TB infection usually affects the lungs. Other organs such as the kidneys, spine or brain may be affected. TB stages include:

• Exposed. This means a person has been in contact with someone who has TB, but they have a negative TB skin or blood test, a normal chest X-ray and no symptoms.
• Latent TB infection (LTBI). This means a person has TB bacteria in their body, but they do not feel sick. A person with LTBI does not have symptoms, but they could get active TB later. A person with LTBI cannot spread TB to other people. People with LTBI typically have a negative (normal) chest X-ray. They have a positive tuberculin skin test (TST) and/or a positive TB blood test.
• Active Tuberculosis (TB) Disease: This means a person has TB and can spread it to other people. A doctor will confirm an active TB diagnosis with:
  • Positive TB skin test
  • Positive TB blood test
  • Positive (abnormal) chest X-ray and/or
  • Signs/symptoms of TB disease

How Does Tuberculosis Spread?

TB usually spreads through the air. The germs enter the air when a person coughs, breathes or sneezes. Other people nearby may breathe in those germs and get infected.

What Are the Signs and Symptoms of TB?

• A cough that lasts two weeks or more
• Pain in the chest, with cough or at rest
• Coughing up blood or thick mucous
• Night sweats
• Feeling weak or tired
• Weight loss
• Not wanting to eat
• Fever
• Swollen neck gland(s)

How Is Tuberculosis Treated?

For latent TB, several medicine options are available. Children over 2 years old can be treated with once-weekly medicine for 12 weeks or several months of daily medicine.

For active TB, a child will be given 2 to 4 medicines for 6 months or more.  Children usually start to get better within a few weeks of starting treatment. After 2 weeks of treatment with medicine, a child is usually not contagious. It's important to have your child take all the medicines for the entire time.