Latent TB Infection
People with Latent TB Infection (LTBI) do not show any signs or symptoms of infection so it can go unnoticed. However, this latent infection can convert to active disease and so spread to other individuals. It is therefore extremely important to identify individuals with LTBI and treat them with antibiotics to prevent them developing TB disease which could then be passed onto others.
Therefore tests have been developed to identify LTBI.
Diagnosing Latent TB
Active TB Disease
People with active TB disease do have signs or symptoms of TB. These symptoms are easy to confuse with those of many other diseases. This chart
details the main differences between active TB disease and latent TB infection.
to learn more about the differences between active TB and latent TB.
It is therefore important to correctly identify those people with TB disease so they can be given the correct treatment to cure the TB and prevent them passing on the disease to others.
Diagnosing Active TB