Tuberculosis is a serious infection caused most commonly by the Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacterium or one of three other organisms of the Mycobacterium genus. Tuberculosis primarily affects the lungs, but the infection can attack any part of the body. If left untreated, tuberculosis can cause lung damage, meningitis, and even death; the World Health Organization reported 1.5 million deaths due to tuberculosis in 2018. Those at highest risk for tuberculosis include those with weakened immune systems and those in areas of the world with poor nutrition and poor access to health care. Most cases of tuberculosis can be treated with a combination of medications that are taken for several months, but failure by many people to fully follow their course of treatment has led to the emergence of drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis bacteria. Tuberculosis, Third Edition covers the history, causes, and treatments of this potentially deadly disease.

Chapters include:

• Tuberculosis Throughout Time
• Robert Koch, Selman Waksman, and the Near Defeat of Tuberculosis
• The Tuberculosis Bacterium
• Consumption: What Happens Once You Become Infected
• Transmission from Organism to Organism
• The Immune Response to Tuberculosis Infection
• Screening for and Diagnosis of Tuberculosis
• The BCG Vaccine
• Treatment of Tuberculosis I: Sanatoriums and Early Drug Treatments
• Treatment of Tuberculosis II: Modern Drug Therapy
• The Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Tuberculosis