Q: Please Doc, can you talk on tuberculosis and can it go on forever, if treated?

Tuberculosis (Tb) is a bacterial infection that mainly affects lungs. The infection could be active in which case the person is sick and can transmit the infection to another person or the infection could be inactive, in which case the infection is present in the body but does not cause infection neither can it be transmitted to another person. However, this latter case needs to be treated as it can become active.

The issue of Tb has come more to the front burner with the advent of HIV/AIDS which causes a depression of the immune system such that the Tb infection can hold sway. Other conditions that depress the immune system include cancer treatment, some cancers, malnutrition, Diabetes Mellitus, extremes of age (very young or very old) etc

Symptoms of Tb include fever, cough…