Tuberculosis (TB) is the world’s top infectious killer. Nearly 4,500 people lose their lives and 30,000 people fall ill with TB each day. Every, March 24 is marked as World TB day to raise awareness about this deadly bacterial infection.
TB is caused by bacteria (Mycobacterium tuberculosis) and it most often affects the lungs. TB is spread through the air when people with lung TB cough, sneeze or spit. A person needs to inhale only a few germs to become infected.
TB is the leading cause of death of people with HIV and also a major contributor to antimicrobial resistance. According to Google Trends data, World TB day 2025 is trending with over 2,000+ search volume.
The Google Trends data show that there has been multiple highs and lows in the search volume of internet users. As per the Interest by Subregion, users from Sikkim searched the topic most, followed by Manipur, Himachal Pradesh, Tripura and Jammu & Kashmir.
People have also searched for topics like World No Tobacco Day, BCG Vaccine, Robert Koch, Patient and Mantoux Test. Google users have also searched for queries like world tb day theme 2015, world tb day images, why is world tb day celebrated on March 24, world tb day quiz and world tb day is celebrated on.
WHO data reveals that most of the people who fall ill with TB live in low- and middle-income countries, but TB is present all over the world. About half of all people with TB can be found in 8 countries: Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines and South Africa.
“People infected with TB bacteria have a 5–10% lifetime risk of falling ill with TB. Those with compromised immune systems, such as people living with HIV, malnutrition or diabetes, or people who use tobacco, have a higher risk of falling ill,” WHO says.
What are symptoms of TB infection?
Common symptoms of TB are:
- prolonged cough (sometimes with blood)
- chest pain
- weakness
- fatigue
- weight loss
- fever
- night sweats
How TB infection is treated?
Tuberculosis disease is treated with special antibiotics. Treatment is recommended for both TB infection and disease. The most common antibiotics used are:
- isoniazid
- rifampicin
- pyrazinamide
- ethambutol.
