Who gets tuberculosis(TB)

Condition analysis:
Tuberculosis can affect anyone of any age. Most often, it is associated with older people who have had previous tuberculosis exposure. Immunocompromised individuals such as those with AIDS (or those infected with the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV) are at increased risk.

Instructions:
If I have a positive PPD test, do I have active tuberculosis? Usually not. A person can be infected with the bacteria that cause tuberculosis but not actually have active tuberculosis. Of the people who are infected with the bacteria that cause tuberculosis, only a few (about 10%) go on to develop active TB.

Healthy people who get infected with the tuberculosis bacteria are often able to fight off the infection and do not develop active TB. The bacteria are dormant (inactive) in their lungs. If the body is not able to contain the infection and the bacteria continue to grow, active tuberculosis develops.