Contents

Disclaimer

Oxford University Press makes no representation, express or implied, that the drug dosages in this book are correct. Readers must therefore always check the product information and clinical procedures with the most up to date published product information and data sheets provided by the manufacturers and the most recent codes of conduct and safety regulations. The authors and the publishers do not accept responsibility or legal liability for any errors in the text or for the misuse or misapplication of material in this work. Except where otherwise stated, drug dosages and recommendations are for the non-pregnant adult who is not breastfeeding.

Show Summary Details
Page of

Tuberculosis in old age 

Tuberculosis in old age
Chapter:
Tuberculosis in old age
Author(s):

Aparajit Ballav Dey

and Ramesh Kandel

DOI:
10.1093/med/9780198701590.003.0082
Page of

PRINTED FROM OXFORD MEDICINE ONLINE (www.oxfordmedicine.com). © Oxford University Press, 2021. All Rights Reserved. Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a PDF of a single chapter of a title in Oxford Medicine Online for personal use (for details see Privacy Policy and Legal Notice).

date: 22 January 2021

Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It is a common cause of death in the developing world among older persons. HIV/AIDS pandemic has led to rise in TB cases, development of drug resistance, and higher incidence of extrapulmonary disease. TB in old age can result from acquisition of new infection or reactivation of latent infection and progression to disease due to immunosenescence. It is a multisystem infection affecting virtually every organ system in the body, though pulmonary TB is the commonest manifestation. TB presents atypically in old age. The gold standard for diagnosis is isolation of the infective organism in culture, which is often difficult to achieve. The diagnostic strategies have improved with newer techniques based on nucleic acid amplification. Older patients have a higher risk of adverse drug reaction and poor treatment outcome. Control of TB requires efficiency in early detection and completion of treatment.

Access to the complete content on Oxford Medicine Online requires a subscription or purchase. Public users are able to search the site and view the abstracts for each book and chapter without a subscription.

Please subscribe or login to access full text content.

If you have purchased a print title that contains an access token, please see the token for information about how to register your code.

For questions on access or troubleshooting, please check our FAQs, and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us.