Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis (TB) is a disease caused by a germ in the air. The germs come from people who are already infected with TB. Once you breathe in the germs, two things can happen. The first thing is that you might get sick right away. The other thing that can happen is that your body is strong enough to fight the germs, but not strong enough to kill them. The germs get covered in capsules by your body, and can remain there for many years. If your body ever gets weak from another infection or if you're not eating right, then the germs can break out of their capsules and hurt your body.

You have to be infected with TB for quite a while before you notice the symptoms, because the germs grow very slowly. The symptoms (once they are noticed) are loss of weight, loss of appetite, loss of energy, fever, and coughing. Once you have TB it takes a very long time to get cured. With the help of medicine prescribed by a doctor, it can take about a year to be cured! The good news is that after about 2 weeks, you can no longer pass on the TB germs to anyone else. It is very important to keep taking the medication the doctor gave you, even if you don't feel sick anymore. This is because you can still have the germs in you for a long time after you feel better.

You can also be treated for TB before you're sick! If you have the TB germs in your body, but they're covered in capsules, the doctor can give you medicine to kill them before they hurt your body.

The only ways to prevent getting tuberculosis are to keep your body healthy and to make sure the people you know with TB are taking their medicine.

For additional information, check out the Canadian Lung Association's web site.