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Every second of every day someone in the world is newly infected with the TB bacilli (germs), which cause Tuberculosis (TB). TB used to be called consumption.
Tuberculosis is a contagious disease. Only people who are sick with TB in the lungs are infectious. When an infectious person coughs, sneezes, talks, or spits they send TB germs into the air. People who are near by can breathe the germs into their lungs and get infected.
Why Should I Care?
Even though Tuberculosis (TB) is completely curable with antibiotics, it continues to be a major health problem that kills almost two million people worldwide each year.
Canada has approximately 1,600 new cases of TB each year with more than 40 per cent of these cases occurring in Ontario. The City of Toronto alone has over 20 per cent of all TB cases in Canada each year, almost one newly diagnosed case each day.
While TB is most prevalent in developing nations, people today travel widely and move around a lot. We cannot prevent and eliminate TB in Huron County if we’re not also part of the global movement to eradicate TB in developing countries.
For you to become infected, it usually requires close, prolonged contact with an infected person to get the TB germs. For example, spending several hours a day with a person with active TB would put you at risk. You cannot get TB by sharing cutlery, dinner plates, drinking cups or toilet seats.
If you breathe in the TB germs, your body’s defence (immune) system may kill the TB germs. The TB germs can lay dormant or asleep in your body and cause no symptoms. This is called latent Tuberculosis Infection. You will not feel sick and you may not even know you have been infected.
If you have latent TB Infection and your body’s defence system becomes weak because you have some other illness, you may develop active TB disease. The TB germs cause you to have a fever, no energy, night sweats, no appetite and a cough for two to three weeks or longer, when you have active TB disease; you may also infect other people.
Both latent TB Infection and TB disease can be cured with antibiotic drugs.
Who is at risk of TB in Huron County?
Anyone who has come in contact with someone who has active, infectious TB disease is at risk for getting latent TB infection, which may later develop into active TB disease.
Those most at risk usually spend many hours every day with someone who has infectious TB disease. If you have HIV or AIDS you are at the greatest risk of getting latent TB infection and possibly TB disease because your immune system is weakened.
Certain population groups do have an increased risk of inactive TB infection. They include:
- People who have come into close contact with individuals with known or suspected TB (e.g., family members or people sharing living or confined spaces)
- People who have recently spent time in an area with a high rate of TB
- People with a history of active TB or an x-ray suggesting they had TB in the past but did not receive adequate treatment
- Residents of long-term care and correctional facilities
- The poor, especially the urban homeless.
People who work with any of these groups, especially health care workers, plus correctional and shelter staffs, are also at greater risk of latent TB infection.
What should I do if I’m at risk of TB?
If you think you have been close to someone with infectious TB disease, you should get tested for TB. Testing is done with a skin test called a Mantoux test. If you have latent TB infection and another medical condition that has made your immune system weak, talk to your doctor or nurse.
Contact
For more information on TB, or if you require testing, contact the Huron County Health Unit by calling 519.482.3416 or toll free at 1.877.837.6143.
Tuberculosis is a serious disease that claims many lives each year. Educate yourself, and Stop TB in Huron County.
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