Can you get tuberculosis more than once?

Question: In June 2004 I was diagnosed with TB. I was incarcerated at the time and was put on medication. I finished the treatment after I was released under the care of the TB clinic in town. They told me I was finished and that was it. A couple of months ago I got a chronic cough that comes and goes. Is it possible it came back or could it be damage done from before?

Answers:
Recurrence of the tuberculosis is always possible. It could be the result of reactivation of your previous infection or a new infection.

There's also a chance that this is some other bacterial infiction or even an allergy. Important in this context is to know if you had completed the prescribed duration of treatment - 6 or 8 months depending on the case . Moreover, did your sputum sample test negative at the end of treatment ?

What I would advice is that you go to a physician. He'll probably check your lymph nodes - if they're swollen- get a chest x-ray done(to see if there exists some active lesion).He should also empirically begin treatment with some antibiotic like amoxicillin .The treatment needs to be taken for 10 days in cases of swollen lymph nodes. If at the end of the treatment, the nodes still persist then get them tested by needle aspiration (FNAC) - this will give some conclusive report of the cause ; further treatment would be guided by its findings.

Other Answers:
yes you can get it more than once and yes it can reappear after a while if it has not been completely eradicated by your previous treatment.

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If you took your medications correctly it should not come back. You should also be teated for HIV because they are a common pair.

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