Tuberculosis: Key facts and why you should know about it!

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: As we celebrates World Tuberculosis Day today, March 24, here are a few key facts about the dreaded disease.

• Tuberculosis (TB) is caused by bacteria (Mycobacterium tuberculosis) that most often affect the lungs.
• Common symptoms of active lung TB are cough with sputum and blood at times, chest pains, weakness, weight loss, fever and night sweats.
• TB is now the leading cause of death worldwide, surpassing malaria and HIV
• In 2014, 9.6 million people fell ill with TB and 1.5 million died from the disease, including 380,000 among people living with HIV.
• More than 95% of TB deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries, and TB is among the top 5 causes of death for women aged 15 to 44.
• In 2014, an estimated 1 million children became ill with TB and 140 000 children died.
• TB is a leading killer of HIV-positive people: in 2014, 1 in 3 HIV deaths was due to TB.
• TB death rate dropped by 47% between 1990 and 2015.
• An estimated 43 million lives were saved since 2000, but still over 4 000 people lose their lives each day to this leading infectious disease.
• The WHO End TB Strategy aims to reduce TB deaths by 90% and to cut new cases by 80% between 2015 and 2030, and to ensure that no TB-affected family faces catastrophic costs due to TB.

(Source: WHO)