Tuberculosis

What is tuberculosis?
This is infection by the organism mycobacterium tuberculosis. The disease usually affects the lungs but any organ in the body can be involved. Tuberculosis is spread from person to person usually when coughing, sneezing, singing, laughing and talking.
What are the symptoms of tuberculosis?
Chronic cough, lasting longer than three weeks, weight loss, fever and excessive sweating at night are the common symptoms of pulmonary tuberculosis. When other organs are involved, the symptoms may show up in those organs such as swollen lymph nodes, abdominal pain or swelling.
How is tuberculosis spread?
Tuberculosis is spread by close contact with a person who has tuberculosis. If you have had close contact with someone with tuberculosis you should screen for tuberculosis. Anybody with tuberculosis should ensure that all close contacts at home and at work are screened for tuberculosis so that treatment can be instituted on time for those infected.
Is tuberculosis curable?
Yes tuberculosis is completely curable. Once the diagnosis is made, treatment is usually commenced for a minimum of six months. If a patient takes his medications daily as prescribed the person is expected to get cured.
At The Chest Clinic, we evaluate patients appropriately to confirm or exclude the diagnosis of tuberculosis and ensure that effective treatment is received.