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Understanding Tuberculosis: Information, Symptoms, and Treatment
The Basics | Symptoms | Treatment
Treatment
How Do I Know If I Have Tuberculosis?
The Mantoux skin test -- performed in a doctor's office or health department -- is the most reliable detector of TB. A small amount of liquid material is injected just under the top layer of skin on your arm. After 2 to 3 days, a doctor or nurse will evaluate your arm to see if the test is positive.
You "test positive" for TB if you have a hard, red welt of 5 to 15 millimeters, depending on your risk factors for developing active TB, at the injection site. A positive test means that you have been infected with TB at some point, though not necessarily in its active form. An X-ray of your lungs helps reveal whether the disease is active.
What Is the Treatment for Tuberculosis?
Anyone with tuberculosis must be monitored by a doctor.
Latent TB Infection
If you're infected with TB but don't have the active disease, your doctor will probably prescribe an antibiotic called isoniazid (INH) to help prevent the dormant infection from becoming active.
Your doctor will likely give you a daily dose of isoniazid and evaluate you regularly to ensure that you're tolerating the drug without major side effects. Since people over 60 have more side effects from isoniazid, you and your doctor might decide that the risks of taking INH may outweigh the risk of getting active TB disease.
Active TB Disease
If you have active TB disease, your doctor will give you several antibiotics to prevent resistant bacteria from emerging in your body. You may be taking this combination of antibiotics, which may include isoniazid, rifampin, pyrazinamide, or ethambutol, for up to 6 to 12 months. Since active TB disease can be fatal if left untreated, regular monitoring and treatment by a doctor is crucial.
Multidrug-Resistant TB
A new form of TB, called multidrug-resistant TB (MDR TB), is caused by strains of the tuberculosis bacteria that, through mutation, have developed the ability to resist 2 or more antibiotic drugs. Even with treatment, roughly half of all MDR TB patients with active infection die. This death rate matches that of people with regular TB who receive no medical care at all.
An even newer form of TB, called extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR TB), resists treatment by several types of TB drugs, including antibiotics and injectable drugs.
Fortunately, the multidrug-resistant and extensively drug-resistant forms of TB are still relatively rare. Most cases of TB are still highly treatable if the full course of treatment with antibiotics is taken as directed.
The Basics | Symptoms | Treatment
