Tuberculosis (TB) is a contagious bacterial infection that
involves the lungs but may spread to other organs. You may have
a TB infection but no active disease or symptoms. This means the
TB bacteria remains inactive (dormant) in a small area of your
lungs. This type of infection may be present for years and is
called latent TB. People with latent TB infection cannot spread
the TB germs to other people. However, in some people, the
bacteria can become active. If this happens, you may become sick
or you may then pass on the TB germs to somebody else. Even
though you do not feel sick at all, you will need to take
medicines for TB for 6 - 9 months. This is the only way to make
sure all of the TB bacteria in your body are killed. When you
have active TB, you may feel sick or have a cough, lose weight,
feel tired, or have a fever or night sweats. In this case, you
can pass the TB germ to other people around you. People with
whom you live or work, or with whom you come in close contact,
are most likely to become in