3. Any healthy person has a good chance of not being infected
Tuberculosis is not a very contagious disease. It is an infectious bacterial disease that usually affects the lungs. It can be transmitted from person to person via droplet infection, for example through coughing or sneezing. However, only prolonged and intensive contact with the sick person leads to infection. In addition, people with weakened immune systems – for example due to illness or malnutrition – are particularly at risk. Populations are therefore particularly affected in regions where living conditions weaken the population, for example due to poor hygiene conditions or insufficient access to water and food.
In countries where the number of infections is high, the WHO therefore also recommends vaccination against tuberculosis.
4. The pathogen is slow, making treatment more difficult
Tuberculosis bacteria only divide about once a day. It’s very slow: intestinal bacteria divide every ten minutes. This is why, once infected, the disease develops over several weeks. Additionally, tuberculosis pathogens can remain latent in the body for many years without causing disease. It can still flare up years later, for example if the affected person is weakened. Scientists estimate that a quarter of humanity is infected with tuberculosis bacteria.
Therapy is also influenced by the slow growth of the pathogen: to actually kill all the bacteria, patients must take a combination of different medications for several months.
