Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis is an infectious disease caused by bacteria in the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex. It most often affects the lungs but can also damage other organs.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis: A slow-growing bacterium that causes most human tuberculosis. It is the principal species behind the disease.
Tuberculin skin test: A test that measures immune reactivity to tuberculosis antigens injected into the skin. It can reveal tuberculosis infection, though it cannot by itself distinguish latent infection from active disease.
Pulmonary tuberculosis: Tuberculosis affecting the lungs. It is the most common form and the main source of person-to-person transmission.
Robert Koch: A German physician and microbiologist who identified the bacterium that causes tuberculosis in 1882. His announcement established the microbial cause of tuberculosis.
Tuberculosis in India: The epidemiology, control efforts, and social impact of tuberculosis in India. India accounts for a large share of the world's tuberculosis cases.
Airborne transmission: The spread of infectious particles through the air between people. People usually acquire pulmonary tuberculosis by inhaling airborne particles released by someone with infectious disease.
Interferon-gamma release assay: A blood test that measures immune-cell release of interferon gamma in response to tuberculosis antigens. It helps identify infection without the cross-reactions caused by prior BCG vaccination.
Extrapulmonary tuberculosis: Tuberculosis affecting organs outside the lungs. The disease can involve sites such as lymph nodes, bones, kidneys, or the central nervous system.
Koch's postulates: A set of criteria linking a microorganism to a disease through isolation and experimental infection. Koch used this reasoning to support the link between the tuberculosis bacterium and the disease.
Tuberculosis in South Africa: The epidemiology and control of tuberculosis in South Africa, where HIV has strongly shaped disease burden. The country's epidemic shows how HIV can intensify tuberculosis transmission and progression.

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