Communicable Disease Center (U.S.)

Tuberculosis is an infectious disease that spares neither age, sex, race nor nationality. Although capable of infecting almost any organ of the body, tuberculosis is most generally associated with the lungs. Because of this pulmonary localization, the disease generally spreads from man to man via the respiratory route — coughing, sneezing, and expectoration all serve as vehicles of transportation for the organism carrying it from man to man. Once the tubercle bacilli have gained access to the lung tissue, the process of disease is generally slow; the development is so slow that often the disease goes undetected until the individual has developed an advanced case of tuberculosis. Treatment, then, may consist of surgery, prolonged hospitalization and/or treatment with a battery of antibiotics. It may be necessary for treatment to continue for months and sometimes years before a return to good health is achieved. Present evidence seems to indicate that once a person is infected there is almost never complete elimination of the tubercle bacillus from the body.

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Stephen B. Thacker CDC Library collection