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Tuberculosis (TB): the signs, getting tested, finishing treatment, and protecting the people around you
For anyone with a cough that will not go away, a positive TB test, a call from the health department, or months of TB medicine to finish, and for anyone who lives or works in a shelter or spent time in a jail or prison. CDC says TB spreads through the air, that some people carry the germs without being sick or able to spread them, and that both kinds can be treated. This page passes on, by name, what CDC’s TB pages say: the signs, the two tests and what the results mean, treatment and taking every dose, how TB spreads and how to protect your family, and who is at higher risk. It builds the words to say to a clinic or the health department, and prints a card to keep your TB record.
Right now
- Someone is coughing up more than a little blood, is struggling to breathe, or is newly confused: call 911 or go to the emergency room now (ours).
- A cough for three weeks or longer, chest pain, coughing up blood or phlegm, weight loss, fever or night sweats? CDC says contact a health care provider or your local health department and ask about TB testing.
- On TB medicine, with stomach pain, vomiting, yellow skin or eyes, dizziness, or tingling in the hands or feet? CDC says call your provider right away. Do not just stop the medicine on your own.
More help
- A roof and care: A place to stay · New York homeless resources · When you need a doctor and can’t pay.
- Health conditions that raise the risk: HIV · Diabetes · Kidney disease · Alcohol or drugs.
- Keeping track: My medicines list · Symptom diary · Get ready for an appointment. After release: Coming home from jail or prison.
- In a crisis: Help right now (988, 911). All our free tools.
A cough, a fever or trouble breathing, and not sure this is the right page? The pages on this site for a cough, a fever or trouble breathing, on one list.
This page and its wording were written with AI (Claude) for Scarlet Beast (our AI policy). No doctor or nurse has reviewed it. The facts were read on October 14, 2026 on CDC’s TB pages on cdc.gov: About Tuberculosis (updated January 17, 2025), Signs and Symptoms of Tuberculosis (January 17, 2025), Testing for Tuberculosis (June 17, 2024), Treating Tuberculosis (April 17, 2025), Preventing Tuberculosis (April 17, 2025), Tuberculosis Risk Factors (December 10, 2024), TB Risk and People Experiencing Homelessness (October 29, 2024), Exposure to Tuberculosis (January 3, 2024), each with its CDC Spanish version, and CDC’s list of state TB Programs (April 29, 2024). Ours: calling 911 for coughing up a lot of blood, struggling to breathe or new confusion; covering coughs and keeping distance until you know; telling the clinic before you miss doses; and the order of the steps. What we left out: CDC’s clinical pages for providers, the names and amounts of TB medicines (CDC’s treatment page names them; ask your provider), most national counts, and CDC’s booklets and fact sheets. This page saves nothing and loads no trackers.