You can safely kiss a person with TB. Tuberculosis (TB) is not spread by sharing saliva, which means kissing someone with TB is not a way to contract the disease. TB is a respiratory illness, primarily spread through the air when a person with active TB coughs, sneezes, sings, or talks, and others breathe in the germs.
While kissing someone with TB is safe, it's important to be aware of the potential for spreading other infections through saliva.
Here's what you should know about TB transmission:
- Active TB is contagious: People with active TB disease can spread the bacteria to others.
- Inactive TB is not contagious: People with inactive TB cannot spread the disease.
- Close contact is key: You need to be in close contact with someone with untreated TB disease of the lungs for a long period of time and need to breathe in TB germs for infection to occur.
- TB is not spread by casual contact: Sharing silverware, cups, or even kissing someone with TB does not spread the disease.
