Tuberculosis (TB) is primarily a disease of the lungs and is spread person-to-person by contaminated air droplets from coughing or sneezing. TB develops slowly over months or years or may lie dormant in an infected person. A positive TB skin test, chest x-ray, and examination of lung secretions for TB bacteria help make the diagnosis.

TB is still with us today but not to the degree it was years ago. Iowa averages 70 newly diagnosed cases of TB each year. Many patients are older Iowans who have harbored the disease for many years. Close friends and family members become exposed when the patient become symptomatic and this exposure may result in the spread of infection.

At one time TB patients were removed from society and treated in specialized centers. Since the early 1950's the development of effective anti-TB drugs has closed the doors of these centers and allowed TB patients to be treated as outpatients of local hospitals while leading normal lives. At most, a patient may be hospitalized for a few days while a full medical evaluation is made. Prevention of TB is achieved by finding and treating the infected person.

Proper treatment of TB requires several months of drug treatment. It is very important that the patient understands this and faithfully takes all medicines prescribed by the doctor. The disease will reactivate or the bacteria may become resistant to the drugs used when patients fail to comply with the doctor's orders. Multidrug resistant TB is sporadic in Iowa, ranging from one to four cases per year.

In several U.S. cities and in some foreign countries in the incidence of TB is increasing. In 1996, three million people worldwide died of tuberculosis. Atypical TB bacteria infects patients with the AIDS virus. This virus depresses the immune system and allows an inactive infection to become active.