I was healthy, how did I get tuberculosis? | World Tuberculosis Day

March 24, 2025

The 30th World Tuberculosis Day

The theme of our publicity campaign this year is

“Comprehensive action, full commitment to end tuberculosis”

Tuberculosis is a major public health problem that seriously endangers human health and is also a Class B infectious disease in my country. In the era when tuberculosis was rampant, people had no idea how to treat and prevent tuberculosis because they did not know the cause of the disease. It was not until March 24, 1882 that German scientist Robert Koch reported at the Berlin Physiological Society that the culprit of tuberculosis was tuberculosis bacteria. Since then, this day has been designated as "World Tuberculosis Day" every year.

Tuberculosis is a chronic infectious granulomatous disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It can affect all organs of the body and is mainly transmitted through the respiratory tract. Therefore, pulmonary tuberculosis is the most common tuberculosis . Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a "stubborn" bacterium, surrounded by thick lipids, like a solid bulletproof vest, and can survive for up to 3 months in a dark and humid environment. Mycobacterium tuberculosis is also a "cunning" bacterium, showing various growth states such as fast, slow, and static. Among them, slow-growing bacteria are difficult to be completely eliminated by drugs.

To this end, people usually rely on extending the course of treatment to achieve better sterilization effects, which is the main reason why the current anti-tuberculosis treatment course lasts for more than 6 months.

Myths about tuberculosis

How much do you know?

01 Tuberculosis has disappeared, so we no longer need to pay attention to it?

This is incorrect. Tuberculosis has existed since ancient times. It was only since the 1940s that tuberculosis was brought under control due to the invention of anti-tuberculosis drugs. However, tuberculosis is still a global problem that cannot be ignored. According to data released by the World Health Organization in 2024, among the 30 countries with a high burden of tuberculosis, my country's estimated tuberculosis incidence ranks third, accounting for 6.8% of the global incidence, lower than India (26%) and Indonesia (10%).

However, since the 1980s, a 6-month treatment regimen for sensitive pulmonary tuberculosis has been widely used, which can cure more than 90% of patients. In the 1990s, multidrug-resistant tuberculosis appeared. Fortunately, with the advent of more new anti-tuberculosis drugs, the treatment of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis has also made great progress. After more than 9 months of treatment, most multidrug-resistant tuberculosis can also be cured.

02 Will you definitely get tuberculosis if you are infected with tuberculosis bacteria?

In most cases, the body's immune status will maintain a dynamic balance after infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. At this time, although there are very small amounts of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in the body, surrounded by immune cells, the Mycobacterium tuberculosis cannot cause trouble and tuberculosis will not occur.

When the body's immune system is damaged, tuberculosis bacteria will break through the immune barrier and develop into active tuberculosis . For example, long-term use of glucocorticoids (including methylprednisolone, prednisone and dexamethasone), use of biological agents such as tumor necrosis factor antagonists, organ transplantation or bone marrow transplantation, HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) infection, etc. Due to the body's damaged immune system, the risk of tuberculosis-infected people developing active tuberculosis is greatly increased.

In addition, people who have close contact with patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis, children under 5 years old who have close contact with patients with pathogen-positive pulmonary tuberculosis, and long-term dialysis patients are also at high risk of developing active tuberculosis. Therefore, screening and intervention of tuberculosis infection should be highly valued.

03 Can I stop taking the medicine once the tuberculosis symptoms disappear?

The course of anti-tuberculosis treatment is relatively long. For pulmonary tuberculosis, it is generally 6 months. For some patients with severe conditions and extrapulmonary tuberculosis, the course of treatment is even longer. In addition, irregular treatment can easily lead to drug resistance of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, increase the difficulty of treatment, and further prolong the course of treatment. Only by adhering to standardized full-course drug treatment can anti-tuberculosis kill the bacteria and achieve the purpose of radical cure. Therefore, tuberculosis patients should have enough patience and should not stop taking the medicine too early.

Today, “nine out of ten diseases are tuberculosis” has long become history, and “ending the tuberculosis epidemic” is our goal.

The key to preventing tuberculosis is to do the following:

Comprehensive sources: Xinhuanet, China Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, China Youth Daily, Healthy China, etc.

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