Spotlight On Aging: Tuberculosis
If latent tuberculosis (TB) reactivates in older adults, it may cause few symptoms. Thus, doctors may not suspect it for weeks or months. In older adults, the presence of other disorders also makes it hard to diagnose reactivated TB. Older adults who live in a nursing home are at risk of being infected with TB. The pneumonia that results may not be recognized as TB. Thus, it may not be appropriately treated and may spread to other people. In the United States, miliary TB most often affects older adults. Miliary TB is a potentially life-threatening type of TB that occurs when a large number of the bacteria travel through the bloodstream and spread throughout the body. TB that infects the tissues covering the brain (called tuberculous meningitis) is also more common among older adults. This life-threatening infection causes fever, constant headache, neck stiffness, nausea, confusion, and drowsiness that can lead to coma. If older adults have long-standing latent TB, doctors weigh the risk and benefits of using antituberculosis antibiotics to prevent active TB from developing. The risk that these medications may cause harmful side effects may be greater than the risk of developing TB. In such cases, doctors often consult a TB expert before they decide whether to use antibiotics. |