After the lungs, the lymph glands are most commonly affected. The main symptom is enlarged lymph glands, usually in the neck or armpits. Often these are not painful. Sometimes only lymph glands inside the chest are affected and this may only be seen on a chest X-ray. Symptoms are similar to other types of meningitis with headache, drowsiness and neck-stiffness but develop more slowly.
Young children are particularly at risk if they are in contact with an infectious adult.
TB of the bones particularly affects the spine but any bone can be involved. This may cause local pain. In advanced cases a bone may collapse. In the spine this can press on the spinal cord and cause paralysis. It is suspected from typical symptoms as above.