All you need to know about tuberculosis (TB) Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease that usually affects the lungs, though it can affect any organ in the body. It can develop when bacteria spread through droplets in the air. TB can be fatal, but in many cases, it is preventable and treatable. In the past, TB, or “consumption,” was a major cause of death around the world. Following improvements in living conditions and the development of antibiotics , the prevalence of TB fell dramatically in industrialized countries. However, in the 1980s , numbers started to rise again. The World Health Organization (WHO) describe it as an “epidemic.” They report that it is among the top 10 causes of death globally and “the leading cause of death from a single infectious agent.” The WHO estimate that in 2018, nearly 10 million people around the world developed TB and 1.5 million people died from the disease, including 251,000 people who also h...
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