World TB Day (March 24)

Posted by Sarah Levin-Lederer on March 20th, 2023 Posted in: Blog
Tags: MedlinePlus, resources

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This Friday, March 24 is World TB Day.

Each year, we recognize World TB Day on March 24 commemorating the date in 1882 when Dr. Robert Koch announced his discovery of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacillus that causes tuberculosis (TB).

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), despite being a preventable and curable disease, 1.5 million people die from TB each year – making it the world’s top infectious killer.

What is tuberculosis (TB)?

Tuberculosis (TB) is a bacterial disease that usually attacks the lungs. But it can also attack other parts of the body, including the kidneys, spine, and brain.

Learn more:

• MedlinePlus TB Health Topic Page
• MedlinePlus Tuberculosis Screening
• Basic TB Facts-CDC

TB in the 20^th and 21st centuries

For a lot of Americans, our concept of TB is often based on pop culture history of the 19^th century, Satine in Moulin Rouge or characters going to sanitoriums or the seaside for the air. And although some of that is based on fact, TB in the US looks different today.

The first successful antibiotics against TB were used in the 1940’s with other treatment advances happening over the next decades. Modern TB treatment is concerned with drug resistant strains and the affects of co-occurring diseases like HIV.

Learn more:

• Treatment for Latent TB Infection and TB Disease-CDC
• Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis (MDR TB) Fact Sheet-CDC
• Antibiotic Resistance-MedlinePlus
• HIV and Tuberculosis (TB)-NIH
• TB and Diabetes-CDC

From our partners

Join the Public Health Museum on Thursday, March 23 for Tuberculosis in Children: A Century of Progress, but a Global Threat Remains.

Built in 1894, The Saranac Laboratory was the first lab built in the U.S. for the research of tuberculosis. Historic Saranac Lake rehabilitated the building and opened it as a museum in 2009. Online archives include images and oral histories of researchers, staff and patients.

Recursos en español

El 24 de marzo de cada año conmemoramos el Día Mundial de la Tuberculosis. Este evento anual recuerda la fecha en 1882 cuando el Dr. Robert Koch anunció que había descubierto el Mycobacterium tuberculosis, el bacilo que causa la tuberculosis (TB).

Aprende más acerca de TB:

• MedlinePlus español tuberculosis
• Prueba de tuberculosis-MedlinePlus español
• Datos básicos sobre la tuberculosis-CDC
• Tuberculosis multirresistente (MDR TB)-CDC
• Resistencia a los antibióticos-MedlinePlus español
• El VIH y la tuberculosis (TB)-NIH
• La tuberculosis y la diabetes-CDC