TB Facts:
- In 2013, 9 million people were diagnosed with TB and 1.5 million died from it
- TB is the second largest killer among infectious diseases (after HIV)
- TB is a common secondary infection in HIV+ individuals, and one of the major causes of death in AIDS
- In 2013, 360,000 AIDS sufferers died from TB
- TB is caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis
- About one third of the world's population carries the TB pathogen in a dormant form
- TB is diagnosed by chest X-ray, microbiological analysis of sputum and immunological tests
- The standard treatment for TB involves 6 months of antimicrobial therapy with 4 drugs
- Multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB) can arise due to incomplete treatment
- In 2013, 450,000 people were diagnosed with MDR-TB
- BCG is the only available vaccine against TB, but it is not always effective
Source: WHO TB Report 2013
Further Information about TB: