This is organised by the TB nurses and the Chest Clinic. The germs which cause TB are spread by a person with TB coughing and sneezing the germs from their lungs onto other people. This is the delay in time between the germ entering the body and a person becoming unwell. For TB this is between 4 and 12 weeks. Many people get rid of the infection through their body's normal defence system, but in some people germs may remain in the lungs, not producing any illness.
Doctors say the disease is latent.
It may become activated in old age or if the patient develops AIDS or has an organ transplant or takes certain medicines. The TB tablets can make the contraceptive pill less reliable, so if you use it, it would be advisable to use another method of birth control. If you need any advise, see your GP or Family Planning Clinic. Once antibiotic treatment of TB is started infectious cases of TB become non-infectious very quickly, usually after 14 days treatment. The length of the illness varies.