TB is the short way of saying tuberculosis, a serious infectious disease caused by bacteria. It usually attacks the lungs, which is why the main signs are a cough that will not go away, coughing up blood, fever, night sweats, and losing weight. It can also affect bones, the spine, and other parts of the body.

TB is the short way of saying tuberculosis, a serious infectious disease caused by bacteriaTB是tuberculosis（結核病）的簡稱，是一種由細菌引起的嚴重傳染病。It usually attacks the lungs, which is why the main signs are a cough that will not go away, coughing up blood, fever, night sweats, and losing weight它通常攻擊肺部，這也是為什麼主要症狀包括久咳不癒、咳血、發燒、夜間盜汗和體重下降。It can also affect bones, the spine, and other parts of the body它也可能影響骨頭、脊椎和身體其他部位。

TB spreads through the air when a sick person coughs or sneezes, and it can be cured with antibiotics — but the treatment takes six months or more, and if a patient stops early the bacteria can come back stronger and harder to kill. That is why you hear about 'drug-resistant TB'.

TB spreads through the air when a sick person coughs or sneezes, and it can be cured with antibioticsTB會在生病的人咳嗽或打噴嚏時透過空氣傳播，而且可以用抗生素治好——but the treatment takes six months or more, and if a patient stops early the bacteria can come back stronger and harder to kill不過療程要六個月以上，如果病人太早停藥，細菌可能會變得更強、更難殺死，捲土重來。That is why you hear about 'drug-resistant TB'這也是為什麼你會聽到「抗藥性結核病（drug-resistant TB）」這種說法。

Something worth knowing: a very large number of people carry the bacteria without being ill at all. Doctors call this latent TB — it sits quietly and may never wake up. So 'having TB' can mean two quite different situations.

Something worth knowing: a very large number of people carry the bacteria without being ill at all有件事值得知道：非常多人身上帶有這種細菌，卻完全沒有生病。Doctors call this latent TB — it sits quietly and may never wake up醫生把這種情況叫做latent TB（潛伏結核）——它安靜地待著，可能永遠不會發作。So 'having TB' can mean two quite different situations所以「having TB得了結核病」其實可以指兩種完全不同的情況。

In everyday English almost nobody says the full word tuberculosis; doctors and ordinary people alike just say TB, with both letters pronounced. Taiwan still has more TB than many people expect, so 肺結核 is a word your family may well know.

In everyday English almost nobody says the full word tuberculosis在日常英文裡，幾乎沒有人會把tuberculosis整個字說出來；doctors and ordinary people alike just say TB, with both letters pronounced不管是醫生還是一般人，都只說TB，兩個字母都會唸出來。Taiwan still has more TB than many people expect, so 肺結核 is a word your family may well know台灣的結核病比很多人以為的還要多，所以「肺結核」這個詞，你家人很可能都聽過。