what does tuburculosis mean?

Answer 1

It is an infectious disease of the lungs caused by the tubercle bacillus microorganism. It can spread to other parts of the body and be fatal.

Answer 2

Tuberculosis, or TB, is an infectious disease that usually affects the lungs but that can attack other parts of the body. There are two forms of TB: TB infection and TB disease (or active TB). Most people with TB have TB infection.

What is the infectious agent that causes tuberculosis?

Tuberculosis is caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, a bacterium.

Where is tuberculosis found?

Tuberculosis is found worldwide.

How do people get tuberculosis?

Tuberculosis is spread from person to person through the air. People with TB disease of the lung spray the bacteria into the air when they cough, sneeze, talk, or laugh. People nearby can breathe in the bacteria and become infected. To become infected, a person usually needs to be exposed for a long time to air containing many TB bacteria.

When a person breathes in TB bacteria, they lodge in the lungs and begin to multiply. From there, the bacteria sometimes move through the blood to other parts of the body, such as the kidneys, joints, and brain. In most cases, the infection is kept in check by the body's immune system. In about 10% of cases, however, the infection breaks out into active TB disease at some point during the life of the infected person.


In many countries TB has been virtually eradicated. My dear father died of it in 1957 having contracted it following wounds he received in the war. In those days it was thought that cold air would help and on 12th December 1957, a bitterly cold and foggy day, father and some others who were in the local sanitarium were wheeled outside in their wheelchairs. My father had a haemmorage due to this and died aged 40. In those days nobody thought about negligence or compensation and I was left fatherless aged 10. Nowadays the disease is cured by a course of injections which, if father would have had, would mean he would have lived.

Answer 3

If you get tuberculosis, you can develop tubercles (small nodules) in you lungs. I believe an -is ending refers to an infection (the disease is caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis).