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TB FACTS
Verified statistics from WHO and global health organizations
All statistics sourced from WHO Global TB Report 2024/2025 and WHO Fact Sheets.
TB deaths since you opened this page: 0
FACT #1
In 2024, approximately 1.23 million people died from tuberculosis — making TB the world's leading cause of death from a single infectious agent.
FACT #2
TB kills approximately 3,370 people every single day — roughly one person every 26 seconds.
FACT #3
In 2024, an estimated 10.7 million people fell ill with TB — including 5.8 million men, 3.7 million women, and 1.2 million children.
FACT #4
About one-quarter of the global population — approximately 2 billion people — carries latent TB infection.
FACT #5
TB is the #1 cause of death among people living with HIV. In 2024, 150,000 HIV-positive people died from TB.
FACT #6
People living with HIV are 12 times more likely to develop active TB disease.
FACT #7
An estimated 400,000 people developed multidrug-resistant TB (MDR/RR-TB) in 2023.
FACT #8
Only about 2 in 5 people with drug-resistant TB accessed treatment in 2024.
FACT #9
The treatment success rate for drug-susceptible TB is 88%.
FACT #10
30 high-burden countries account for 87% of all TB cases globally. Eight countries represent two-thirds of all cases.
FACT #11
In 2024, 1.2 million children fell ill with TB. Half of children under 5 with TB are never diagnosed.
FACT #12
174,000 children died from TB in 2024 — nearly 477 child deaths per day.
FACT #13
TB is airborne — it spreads through tiny droplets when an infected person coughs. One untreated person can infect 10-15 others per year.
Source: CDC/WHO
FACT #14
50% of TB-affected households face catastrophic costs exceeding 20% of annual income.
FACT #15
TB deaths have dropped 29% since 2015 — but the world needed a 75% reduction by 2025.
THE SCIENCE IN THE GAME
In TB Eradicator, you play as lungs defending against four types of TB bacteria — each based on real microbiology:
- STANDARD TB — the baseline Mycobacterium tuberculosis that causes most infections worldwide
- DRUG-RESISTANT TB (MDR-TB) — strains resistant to first-line antibiotics, harder to kill, requiring longer and more toxic treatment
- EXTENSIVELY DRUG-RESISTANT TB (XDR-TB) — strains resistant to even second-line drugs, representing one of the most dangerous forms of the disease
- DORMANT TB (LTBI) — latent TB infection, where bacteria hide in the body without symptoms, capable of reactivating years later
Each type behaves differently in the game, just like they behave differently in real life.