 [ Symptoms ] what is the treatment for vaginal fungal infection [ Disease ] tuberculosis tb is an infection caused by slow growing bacteria that grow best in areas of the body that have lots of blood and oxygen that is why it is most often found in the lungs this is called pulmonary tb but tb can also spread to other parts of the body which is called extrapulmonary tb treatment is often a success but it is a long process it takes about 6 to 9 months to treat tb tuberculosis is either latent or active latent tb means that you have the tb bacteria in your body but your body is defenses immune system are keeping it from turning into active tb this means that you do not have any symptoms of tb right now and can not spread the disease to others if you have latent tb it can become active tb active tb means that the tb bacteria are growing and causing symptoms if your lungs are infected with active tb it is easy to spread the disease to others webmd medical reference from healthwise this information is not intended to replace the advice of a doctor healthwise disclaims any liability for the decisions you make based on this information © 1995 2011 healthwise incorporated healthwise healthwise for every health decision and the healthwise logo are trademarks of healthwise incorporated