Myth
TB is gone in rich countries.
Reality
It declined but persists, including in Korea at historically high OECD levels now falling.
Fear and denial both delay programmes. The accurate picture is air, time and care.
Myths are not a diagnostic algorithm.
Myths vs evidence
Myth
You catch it from a cup.
Reality
Shared air over time is the main route. Dishes are not the classic engine.
Myth
A BCG scar means you cannot get TB.
Reality
Protection is partial, especially against adult lung disease.
Myth
If you feel well you cannot infect anyone.
Reality
Infectiousness tracks active lung disease. Feeling 'a bit off' can still matter — a clinician decides.
Myth
Stopping pills when you feel better is fine.
Reality
Early stops select resistance. Duration is part of the prescription.
Myth
This page can tell you which drugs to take.
Reality
Educational only. Regimens are specialist decisions and are not listed as recipes here.
Tuberculosis is shared indoor air plus time. Care is long and clinical; this page will not list a drug recipe.
Keep exploring
More in Encounters
Influenza
A winter respiratory virus of drift and rare shift — surveillance and vaccines, not a cartoon villain.
Familiarity 93Escherichia coli
Usually a gut resident; a minority of STEC pathotypes drive foodborne headlines.
Familiarity 82Staphylococcus aureus
A common skin neighbor and a resistance story called MRSA — not scare porn.
Familiarity 78Norovirus
A very-low-dose gut virus of schools and ships — soap and bleach surfaces, not alcohol-gel faith.
Familiarity 80Helicobacter pylori
A gastric spiral that rewrote the ulcer textbook — Nobel 2005, Korea's high historic prevalence, no recipes.
Familiarity 68