Tuberculosis FACT SHEETS

Previous | Table of Contents | Next

Active TB disease outside the lungs

Active tuberculosis (TB) disease usually affects your lungs. Sometimes TB germs (bacteria) can spread through your blood to other parts of your body. If this happens, the germs are most often found in your lymph nodes. Lymph nodes are an important part of your body’s defence system. They act as filters for germs and viruses. Lymph nodes are usually found in your neck, in your armpits and in your groin.

TB germs can also be found in:

• kidneys
• bones and joints
• intestines
• brain and spinal cord
• all over your body (called disseminated or miliary TB)

If you have active TB disease outside the lungs, you may feel sick or weak, lose weight, and have fever and night sweats. In addition, you may have symptoms in the part of your body where the TB germs can be found. It can sometimes be difficult to diagnosis active TB disease outside of the lungs because your chest x-ray will be normal and your sputum (phlegm) will not show any TB germs.

If you are infected with HIV, you are more likely to have active TB disease outside the lungs. Treatment of active TB disease in other parts of the body is the same as treatment of active TB disease in the lungs. People with active TB disease outside the lungs are usually not infectious to others because their TB germs don’t usually get into the air to be breathed in by someone else.

Previous | Table of Contents | Next