Term: Tuberculosis (TB)

Glossary Definition

Last Updated: 2011-05-18

Definition:

Tuberculosis (TB) is a disease that is acquired through an infection from a bacterium called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. TB is highly contagious: it is spread through the air by individuals with infected lungs or throats when they cough, sneeze, or talk. (Martens et al., 2010).

As a communicable disease, TB is a major cause of morbidity and mortality, and a significant public health concern. Active TB cases have frequent contact with the healthcare system. TB treatment is a lengthy and complex process that requires multiple medications, frequent monitoring, and follow-up with multiple healthcare professionals. Treatment of individuals with Latent Tuberculosis Infection (LTBI) is less resource intensive. (Lix et al., 2018).

For more information on TB, including the ICD-9-CM and ICD-10-CA codes and laboratory methods used to identify TB in MCHP research, see the Tuberculosis (TB) - Method of Identification concept.

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