The the wake of an Elyria High student’s tuberculosis diagnosis, the Lorain County Tuberculosis Clinic will be holding an informational meeting for parents at 7 tonight in the school auditorium.

Tuberculosis info from the Lorain County Tuberculosis Clinic:

What is tuberculosis?

Tuberculosis (TB) is a disease caused by a bacterium called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It usually affects the lung (pulmonary TB). The TB germs are spread from person-to-person through the air. When a person who has TB sneezes, coughs, laughs, shouts or sings, the TB germs (tubercle bacilli) are on the droplets that come out. The germs can be breathed in by anyone nearby.

TB is not a highly infectious disease and transmission usually requires close, frequent or prolonged exposure. Measles and mumps are far more infectious. Even the most severe cases of TB become non-infectious after a few weeks of proper treatment. When patients do not take their treatment as directed, the disease may get out of control and the drugs may no longer work. This is called drug resistant TB.

It is important to note that children are rarely contagious because the amount of TB germs in childhood TB is small and the cough is minimal or nonexistent.

TB can also affect other parts of the body (extrapulmonary TB) such as the lymph nodes, brain, kidneys, or spine. Extrapulmonary TB, which occurs in 15-20% of TB cases, is not contagious. Untreated tuberculosis has a death rate of about 50 percent.

What are the symptoms of TB?

At first, TB may feel like a cold with a cough and a little fever — but it doesn’t get better. General symptoms include:

• persistent cough
• weakness
• feeling tired all the time
• unexplained weight loss
• feeling sick
• loss of appetite
• fever
• night sweats
• spitting up blood (in advanced cases of TB in the lungs)
• When TB affects other parts of the body, symptoms will be different depending on the location of the infection.

What is the difference between TB Infection and TB Disease?

People with TB infection without disease (positive tuberculin reaction) have the germ that causes TB. They are not sick because the germ is inactive or dormant in their bodies. They cannot spread the germ to others. The only evidence of a tuberculous infection is a positive tuberculin test. These individuals are called tuberculin reactors. People with TB infection may develop TB disease in the future, especially if they are in a high risk group. Five to 10% of the people with TB infection will develop TB disease over their lifetimes, most of them many years after the initial infection. Some individuals with an infection and no disease may be given preventative treatment which will greatly reduce the risk of ever getting TB.

People with TB disease are sick from germs that are more active in their body. They usually have one or more symptoms of TB. They can give the infection to others. Permanent damage and death can result from this disease if it is not treated early and properly with medicines which cure TB.

Brochure from the Lorain County Tuberculosis Clinic:

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