TB does not mean you are HIV+ but is a leading cause of death in HIV & AIDS individuals if not treated.

1. TB
Tuberculosis
Does not mean you are HIV+
LEADING CAUSE
OF DEATH FOR
HIV & AIDS INDIVIDUALS

2. Tuberculosis (TB)
• Is a disease caused by a germ called
Mycobacterium (my-ko-bak-TEER-Ium) tuberculosis.
• TB most often affects the lungs
• TB germs can infect any part of the
body.
• TB may be latent or active TB.

3. • "Latent" means that the germs are in
the person's body but are not causing
illness.
• If you have latent TB, you will not
have symptoms and cannot spread
TB.
• However, if HIV has made your
immune system too weak to stop the
TB germs from growing, they can
multiply and cause active TB.

4. • First and foremost, tuberculosis is a
disease of the lungs.
• Infection can spread via blood from
the lungs to all organs in the body.
• You can develop tuberculosis in the
pleura (the covering of the lungs), in
the bones, the urinary tract and
sexual organs, the intestines and
even in the skin.

5. • Lymph nodes in the lung root and on
the throat can also be infected.
• Tuberculous meningitis is sometimes
seen in newly infected children. This
form of the disease is a lifethreatening condition.

6. Symptoms
• General: Feeling tired and/or weak, loss of
appetite, weight, nausea, fever, chills and night
sweats
• Lungs: Cough lasting over 2 weeks, chest pain,
coughing up fluid (sometimes with blood)
• Spinal cord/brain (meninges) Headache, coma
• Bone Marrow: Anaemia
• Back/Vertebrae (Potts disease) Back pain,
paralysis
• Other: Bones (knees) Bowel.

7. Complications
• Without treatment, tuberculosis can be fatal. Untreated
active disease typically affects your lungs, but it can
spread to other parts of the body through your
bloodstream. Examples include:
• Bones
Spinal pain and joint destruction may result from
TB that infects your bones. In many cases, the
ribs are affected.
• Brain
Tuberculosis in your brain can cause meningitis,
a sometimes fatal swelling of the membranes
that cover your brain and spinal cord.

8. • Liver or kidneys
Your liver and kidneys help filter waste and
impurities from your bloodstream. These
functions become impaired if the liver or kidneys
are affected by tuberculosis.
• Heart
Tuberculosis can infect the tissues that surround
your heart, causing inflammation and fluid
collections that may interfere with your heart's
ability to pump effectively. This condition, called
cardiac tamponade, can be fatal.

9. Medications
•
Treating TB takes much longer than treating other types of bacterial
infections.
•
With tuberculosis, you must take antibiotics for at least six to nine
months. The exact drugs and length of treatment depend on your
age, overall health, possible drug resistance, the form of TB (latent
or active) and the infection's location in the body.
•
A recent study suggests that a shorter term of treatment — three
months instead of nine — with combined medication may be
effective in keeping latent TB from becoming active TB.
•
With the shorter course of treatment, people are more likely to take
all their medication and the risk of side effects is lessened. More
study is needed.

10. Completing treatment is
essential
• After a few weeks, you won't be contagious, and you
may start to feel better.
• It might be tempting to stop taking your TB drugs but it is
crucial that you finish the full course of therapy and take
the medications exactly as prescribed by your doctor.
• Stopping treatment too soon or skipping doses can allow
the bacteria that are still alive to become resistant to
those drugs, leading to TB that is much more dangerous
and difficult to treat.