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What Do You Mean By Latent?

: existing in hidden or dormant form: as. a : present or capable of living or developing in a host without producing visible symptoms of disease a latent virus a latent infection.
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I have heard of TB, but what is latent TB?

Tuberculosis (TB) is an illness caused by bacteria. When someone with TB in their lungs coughs or sneezes, they send TB bacteria into the air. If you breathe in these bacteria, one of three things will happen:

your body kills off the TB bacteria so they cannot harm you now or in the futurethe TB bacteria make you ill – this is called ‘active TB’the TB bacteria remain asleep in your body – this is called ‘latent TB’.

About active TB

When people talk about TB, they tend to mean ‘active TB’. If you have active TB, the bacteria are making you ill and you might be passing TB on to other people. Active TB can be very harmful to your health, but it can be cured with a course of medicine.

About latent TB

If you have latent TB, the TB bacteria in your body are ‘asleep’. You are not ill and you cannot pass TB on to others. However, the bacteria might ‘wake up’ in the future, making you ill with active TB. The good news is that latent TB can be treated to prevent this happening.

What are the main differences between active and latent TB?

Latent TB

TB bacteria are asleep in your bodyyou do not have symptoms and you feel wellyou cannot pass TB on to othersit can only be detected through a blood test or TB skin test

Treated with one or two medicines over three to six months

Active TB

TB bacteria are awake and making you illyou will have symptoms that make you feel unwellyou can pass TB to others if it is in your lungsit shows up on a chest x-ray if you have TB in the lungs

Treated with four or more medicines over at least six months

How does latent TB work?

Very few people fall ill immediately after they breathe in TB bacteria. If you are in good health, your immune system – your body’s defence against illness – is likely to remove all the TB bacteria that you breathe in. If it is unable to do this, it may be able to stop you from becoming ill by forcing the bacteria into a latent (sleeping) state. The bacteria are still in your body, but they are not causing damage.

However, latent TB bacteria can ‘wake up’ and become active in the future, making you ill. This can happen many years after you first breathe in TB bacteria. Latent TB bacteria are more likely to wake up if you experience lifestyle stresses or other illnesses that weaken your immune system.

9 Related questions Answers found

What is an example of latent?

The definition of latent is something present but invisible or hidden. An example of latent is an ability to swim that will become clear with a first lesson. An example of latent is a psychological tendency that you are not fully aware of.

What is latent in biology?

1 existing in a potential, dormant, or suppressed form but usually capable of being expressed or evoked. 2 (in pathology) (of an infection or disease) not yet manifest or apparent. [...] From: latent in Oxford Dictionary of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology »

Does latent mean active?

your body kills off the TB bacteria so they cannot harm you now or in the future. the TB bacteria make you ill – this is called 'active TB' the TB bacteria remain asleep in your body – this is called 'latent TB'.

What do you mean by latent talent?

1 potential but not obvious or explicit. 2 (of buds, spores, etc.) dormant.

What is a latent period?

Listen to pronunciation. (LAY-ten-see PEER-ee-ud) The time that passes between being exposed to something that can cause disease (such as radiation or a virus) and having symptoms.

What is meant by latent function?

any function of an institution or other social phenomenon that is unintentional and often unrecognized.

What does latent mean in sociology?

Manifest function refers to the intended function of social policies, processes, or actions that are consciously and deliberately designed to be beneficial in their effect on society. Meanwhile, a latent function is one that is not consciously intended, but that, nonetheless, has a beneficial effect on society.

What is latent period in microbiology?

The latent period is the time taken by a phage particle to reproduce inside an infected host cell. At the population level in a one-step growth curve, it can be represented as the time taken for the newly formed phage particles to appear in the media.

What is latent variable in research?

A latent variable is a variable that cannot be observed. The presence of latent variables, however, can be detected by their effects on variables that are observable. Most constructs in research are latent variables. Consider the psychological construct of anxiety, for example.