TB, the consequences

The tuberculosis bacillus destroys the lung tissue, resulting in prolonged bouts of coughing which last more than a fortnight and usually include sputum production, sometimes haemoptysis. Many individuals are affected by chest pains, loss of appetite, night sweats, fever, weight loss and fatigue. Without adequate treatment, the sufferer may die after a few months or after a few years.

If treatment is very much delayed, the patient's lungs may never recuperate and the patient may never recover the full use of his lungs. Moreover, TB patients may contaminate others around them all the while they are left untreated. Any individual who coughs for longer than a fortnight should therefore go in to his local health centre and have his sputum examined.