Sub-clinical TB: Fascinating South African research helps push frontiers of TB science

As much as 80% of adults in the Western Cape may at some point have been infected with the tuberculosis (TB) bacterium. While estimates are uncertain, rates are believed to be high in the rest of the country as well, with likely millions of people having been infected with TB. Most people’s bodies, however, manage to suppress the infection and they do not actually fall ill. People who have been infected but who do not fall ill are traditionally classified as having latent TB infection.