Fact sheet: frequently asked questions about tuberculosis, No. 11 (Mar. 2001)

March 2001

DHR Office of Communications

Georgia Department of Human Resources

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT TUBERCULOSIS

Q. Why are we hearing so much about tuberculosis lately?
A. Tuberculosis used to be a major health problem before drugs were found that can treat it. For a long time after these drugs became available, there were fewer cases every year. However, in recent years we saw more cases nationally and in Georgia. Nowadays, more people have weak immune systems because of HIV infection, alcoholism and drug addiction, and more people were born in countries where TB is common. Also, more people are homeless and don't get regular medical care. Although the number of tuberculosis cases in Georgia has declined since 1996, the disease remains a serious problem.
Q. What is tuberculosis?
A. Tuberculosis is a disease caused by rod-shaped bacteria. TB usually affects the lungs, although it can affect other parts of the body.
Q. How dangerous is TB?
A. Without treatment, the disease can be fatal. However, most cases are cured if the patient takes medication consistently for at least six months. HIV-positive people who are TB-infected are more likely to get the disease, and they require longer treatment.
Q. What are the symptoms?
A. A productive cough lasting more than three weeks, fever, chills, night sweats, getting tired easily, loss of appetite, weight loss and coughing up blood may be symptoms of infectious tuberculosis of the lungs. Other kinds of TB may have other symptoms.
Q. How could I catch TB?
A. The tuberculosis bacteria are spread through the air in small

moisture droplets when a person with an active case of the disease coughs or sneezes. Most people who become infected have spent time in close contact with a person who has infectious TB in the lungs. TB in parts of the body other than the lungs or throat is not considered to be infectious.
Q. Should I worry if someone sitting next to me coughs a lot?
A. If that person has an active case of tuberculosis you could become infected, depending on the length of time you spend together. Most people who are exposed briefly don't become infected. But if you must remain in the same area as a person who is coughing, ask him or her to cough into a tissue, covering the nose and mouth.
Q. Who is most likely to have TB?
A. Tuberculosis spreads easiest among people who live in crowded, poorly ventilated housing, are in poor health and have the least access to regular medical care. TB has been associated with poverty. However, there are people in all walks of life who are at risk because their immune systems have been weakened by HIV/AIDS, drug addiction or alcoholism, or some other condition such as diabetes or being more than 10 percent underweight. Also, immigrants from countries where TB is common are more likely to have the disease. TB can spread easily in shelters, prisons, nursing homes and other institutions where people are in poorly ventilated places for long periods of time.
Q. I work in an office where I talk to all sorts of people every day, especially poor people, people with health problems, and immigrants. I worry when any of them coughs or looks sickly. What should I do?
A. If you're talking with a person who is coughing, ask him or her to cough into a tissue, covering both nose and mouth (have some tissues handy on your desk). The used tissues should either be flushed down the commode or disposed of carefully.
Q. I know for sure that someone who was in my office last week has tuberculosis. I am afraid I was exposed. What should I do?
A. If you're talking with a person who is coughing, ask him or her to cough into a tissue, covering both nose and mouth (have some tissue handy on your desk). The used tissues should either be flushed down the commode or disposed of carefully.
Q. I know for sure that someone who was in my office last week has tuberculosis. I am afraid I was exposed. What should I do?

A. This patient could have TB but not be infectious if he or she has you've been exposed to someone in the infectious stage of TB, ask your doctor or your county health department if you need to take a
Q. What does the skin test mean?
infected with TB. If the test is positive, you will be given more tests to rule out active TB. If you have a positive skin test, that doesn't disease, you may need to take medication which will greatly reduce your chances of ever developing the disease.
A. If the test shows that you have an active case, you may be no longer infectious. You will need to take two or more drugs for at least six months. After two to four weeks, if you have taken your may not be infectious to other people and can return to your usual activities. Until then, obey your doctor's or nurse's instructions medication, even if you don't feel sick. If you are HIV positive, you will need a longer course of treatment.
A. When people in treatment for TB fail to take the medication as This means the person will continue to be sick and spread the TB bacteria. Multidrug-resistant TB is much more difficult to treat. So not outbreaks, but there have been outbreaks in New York and Florida.
A. People with infectious TB can easily avoid spreading the disease nose with tissue when coughing or sneezing, and staying at home until they are no longer infectious, which usually takes two to four can be confined to avoid spreading tuberculosis. Q. What are public health officials doing to see that people with

TB are identified and treated so they won't infect other people?
A. When a case of TB is reported, public health nurses and other health care workers interview the patient to find out who may have been exposed. They contact those people and urge them to be tested. All health departments offer TB testing and preventive treatment, and provide management and treatment for active cases. Public health nurses arrange for a responsible person to make sure the infected person takes all the medication required to cure the disease and to prevent him or her from infecting others. This is called "directly observed therapy," or DOT. All patients with tuberculosis in Georgia are expected to have DOT. This may be done at home, at work, or in a clinic or doctors office. People with TB that is difficult to treat or who refuse treatment may require treatment in a hospital. Grady Hospital in Atlanta and other hospitals throughout the state have rooms with special ventilation systems for TB patients so the disease won't spread throughout the hospital. DHR funds several supervised residences in Atlanta for homeless people who have TB.
Q. What about the risk to children at schools and day care centers?
A. Day care center staff should be tested when first employed if they have not had a positive skin test before, and then yearly. Young children with active TB rarely infect others. In Georgia, children with TB have almost always been infected by close family members who have TB.
DHR Office of Communications March 2001
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