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Tuberculosis

FACTS:

• Tuberculosis or TB, is a disease caused by bacteria.   The bacteria can attack any part of a person’s body, but they usually attack the lungs.  TB is spread through the air from one person to another. The bacteria are put into the air when a person with TB of the lungs or throat coughs or sneezes. People nearby may breathe in these bacteria and become infected.
• Children can become infected with tuberculosis if they are around adults with active TB.  
• Diagnosis of TB in children is difficult as they are less likely to have obvious symptoms.   Some of the symptoms of an active TB infection include a bad cough that lasts longer than 2 weeks, pain in the chest, coughing up blood or  heavy mucus from the lungs.  
• Other symptoms of tuberculosis disease are weakness or fatigue, weight loss, no appetite, chills, fever, and sweating at night.

TREATMENT:

• TB in infants and children is much more likely to spread throughout the body through the bloodstream and a serious infection called meningitis may occur.   Because of this, prompt diagnosis and treatment of TB is critical to children.
  
• The good news is that TB can almost always be cured with medicine, but the medicine must be taken EXACTLY as prescribed by the doctor.   TB bacteria die very slowly and so a child has to take medicine for many months, even if they start to feel better quickly.   If a child stops taking the medicine too quickly, it can be very dangerous.   The TB bacteria will grow again even stronger and the child will remain sick for a longer time. 
  
• The best method to prevent TB in children is to find and treat cases of active TB among the adults caring for them.  Children rarely contract TB from other children or transmit it themselves.  Adults are usually the ones who pass it on to others.   In an orphanage, adults should have a TB test before being assigned to work closely with children.
  
• BCG is a vaccine that is commonly given in some countries to prevent TB infection.   Even with a BCG immunization, some children still contract TB if they are around adults with active TB infection.   The key to preventing TB in children is to do everything possible to ensure that they are not around adults with active TB infection.