Tuberculosis is no longer just a disease of the lungs. Doctors are raising alarm over a growing number of patients being diagnosed with non-respiratory or extrapulmonary TB, which often mimics other serious illnesses like cancer, making it harder to detect. Experts link the surge to compromised immunity, poor nutrition, and post-pandemic lifestyle changes, warning that India’s fight against TB now faces a complex, lesser-known threat.

“At the time when I was undergoing treatment for my endometriosis, several injections and antibiotics had been administered. During that eight-year-long process, I suddenly developed severe leg pain. It itched and hurt unbearably. When I told the doctor treating me for endometriosis, he suggested I get an MRI and some tests done. The reports revealed that the cyst in my hip was tuberculosis-related. I was shattered. My health was already poor due to endometriosis, and the TB diagnosis made it worse.

Extrapulmonary TB occurs when the bacteria (Mycobacterium tuberculosis) spread beyond the lungs. Representation pic/istock