Active TB Disease and Latent TB Infection
A person who is exposed to TB may not necessarily develop the disease. Most people are able to fight the infection naturally through the immune system. In fact, healthy people who develop this infection only have a 5-10% chance of developing active disease over their lifetime. Some are able to control the infection, but unable to completely remove it from their bodies. In these cases, the infection remains, lying in an inactive or "latent" state where it may develop into active disease someday if their immune system becomes weakened.
People with latent TB infection do not show any signs or symptoms of infection and it could go unnoticed. Unfortunately, this latent infection can become active at any time and spread to other individuals. Latent TB is usually treated with antibiotics to prevent it from developing into active disease.
Diagnosing Latent TB
People with active TB disease do have signs or symptoms. These symptoms include coughing, fever, and night sweats. Active pulmonary TB disease is contagious and must be treated by a doctor. The chart below details the main differences between active TB disease and latent TB infection.
Diagnosing Active TB
Click here to learn more about the differences between active TB and latent TB.
