10 of The Worst Infectious Diseases in The World

Tuberculosis is an extremely contagious disease that can easily spread through very simple things, such as a cough or sneeze. TB causes 1.5 million annual deaths worldwide and about 1/3 of the entire world’s population is currently infected with this disease.

Fortunately, only 1 in every 10 cases progresses from the latent to the active disease, which can be deadly if left untreated. In most cases, TB affects the lungs yet, it can also attack other parts of the body (extra-pulmonary TB).

Common symptoms include severe long-lasting coughing and rapid weight loss. The more the disease invades bigger areas of the lungs, the more they become necrotized and turn into a cheese-like element.

In the worst cases, the patient risks drowning in their own blood since the infection can erode into the pulmonary artery. In fact, most of the tissue damage in TB is caused by the body’s own immunity, which bombards the infected area with a wide variety of chemicals.

Although many cases of TB are now perfectly treatable with antibiotics, new resistant forms are emerging.