TB
is spread through the air by a person suffering from
TB. A single patient can infect 10 or more people in
a year when a patient with Pulmonary (Lung) TB coughs/
sneezes/spits; he sprays tiny droplets containing TB
bacteria into the air. When a healthy person inhales
the same air, he gets TB infection.
Only people with active disease are contagious. It
usually takes lengthy contact with someone with active
TB before a person can become infected. On an average,
people have a 50 percent chance of becoming infected
with M. tuberculosis if they spend eight hours
a day for six months or 24 hours a day for two months
working or living with someone with active TB. However,
people with TB who have been treated with appropriate
drugs for at least two weeks are no longer contagious
and do not spread the germ to others.
Who gets tuberculosis?
Tuberculosis can affect people of any age. Most often,
it is associated with older people who have had previous
tuberculosis exposure. Individuals with weakened immune
systems including those with AIDS or those infected with
the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are at increased
risk.
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