The facts about TB
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Two hundred years ago, tuberculosis was responsible for one in four deaths in the UK. The disease, caused by a bacterium, struck people from all sections of society, although the poor were the worst affected.
TB is an airborne disease and can only be spread by people with it in their lungs (called pulmonary TB). It is not spread easily, though – it's highly unlikely that you can catch the illness from someone coughing on the train or in a café.
With the advent of antibiotics, it was thought that TB would soon be a disease of the past, but cases never dropped below 5,000 in Britain and Ireland, and since 1987 have risen to more than 8,000. Every year, more than 400 people die of TB in the UK, approximately the same number of people who die of AIDS-related illnesses.
Common symptoms of TB include a cough that lasts for more that three weeks; fever and heavy night sweats; loss of weight for no obvious reason; and loss of appetite.
TB is curable by treatment including a combination of antibiotics, taken normally over a course of at least six months. Patients receiving treatment very quickly become non-infectious. There has been a recent rise in drug-resistant TB in the UK and worldwide due to patients failing to take the full course of treatment.
For further info and to make a donation to help fight TB worldwide, visit: www.tbalert.org
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments