Tuberculosis—Infectious Arthritis

Also called: Septic arthritis

Most kinds of arthritis cause pain and swelling in your joints. Joints are places where two bones meet, such as your elbow or knee. Infectious arthritis is an infection in the joint. The infection comes from a bacterial, viral, or fungal infection that spreads from another part of the body. Symptoms of infectious arthritis include

• Intense pain in the joint
• Joint redness and swelling
• Chills and fever
• Inability to move the area with the infected joint

One type of infectious arthritis is reactive arthritis. The reaction is to an infection somewhere else in your body. The joint is usually the knee, ankle, or toe. Sometimes, reactive arthritis is set off by an infection in the bladder, or in the urethra, which carries urine out of the body. In women, an infection in the vagina can cause the reaction. For both men and women, it can start with bacteria passed on during sex. Another form of reactive arthritis starts with eating food or handling something that has bacteria on it.

To diagnose infectious arthritis, your health care provider may do tests of your blood, urine, and joint fluid. Treatment includes medicines and sometimes surgery.

• Fungal arthritis (Medical Encyclopedia)
• HLA-B27 antigen (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Reactive arthritis (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Septic arthritis (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Viral arthritis (Medical Encyclopedia)

Also called: TB

Tuberculosis (TB) is a disease caused by bacteria called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The bacteria usually attack the lungs, but they can also damage other parts of the body.

TB spreads through the air when a person with TB of the lungs or throat coughs, sneezes, or talks. If you have been exposed, you should go to your doctor for tests. You are more likely to get TB if you have a weak immune system.

Symptoms of TB in the lungs may include

• A bad cough that lasts 3 weeks or longer
• Weight loss
• Loss of appetite
• Coughing up blood or mucus
• Weakness or fatigue
• Fever
• Night sweats

Skin tests, blood tests, x-rays, and other tests can tell if you have TB. If not treated properly, TB can be deadly. You can usually cure active TB by taking several medicines for a long period of time.

NIH: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

• Acid-fast stain (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Coughing up blood (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Disseminated tuberculosis (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Meningitis – tuberculous (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis (MDR TB) (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) – PDF
• PPD skin test (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Pulmonary tuberculosis (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Taking medicines to treat tuberculosis (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Tuberculosis Facts – Exposure to TB (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) – PDF
• Tuberculosis Facts – TB Can Be Treated (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) – PDF
• Tuberculosis Facts – Testing for TB (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) – PDF
• Tuberculosis Facts – You Can Prevent TB (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) – PDF
• Tuberculosis: General Information (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) – PDF