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- Every second, someone in the world is newly
infected with TB.
- Nearly one percent of the world's population
is newly infected with TB each year.
- Overall, one-third of the world's population,
about 2 billion people, are infected with tuberculosis.
- 200 million people worldwide, or 10% of those
infected, will develop active TB and be able
to infect others for 3 decades.
- 6 - 8 million news cases of TB are diagnosed
each year.
- In the last 100 years, 200 million people
have died of TB.
- TB kills 8,000 people a day - that is 2-3
million people each year. It kills more people
than either AIDS or malaria. In fact, TB is
the biggest killer of young people and adults
in the world today.
- TB spreads through the air and is highly contagious.
On average, a person with infectious TB infects
10-15 others every year.
- People infected with TB do not necessarily
become ill - the immune system creates a barrier
around the bacilli that can remain dormant for
years. 10% of infected people (who do not have
HIV/AIDS) develop active TB at some point during
their lifetime.
- Patients develop a persistent cough (sometimes
with blood in the sputum), fever, weight loss,
chest pain and breathlessness.
- The currently recommended treatment is a drug
combination that must be taken for 6-8 months.
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