Tuberculosis may infect any part of the body, but most commonly occurs in the lungs (known as pulmonary tuberculosis). Extrapulmonary TB occurs when tuberculosis develops outside of the lungs, although extrapulmonary TB may coexist with pulmonary TB.

General signs and symptoms include fever, chills, night sweats, loss of appetite, weight loss, and fatigue. Significant nail clubbing may also occur.

If a tuberculosis infection does become active, it most commonly involves the lungs (in about 90% of cases). Symptoms may include chest pain and a prolonged cough producing sputum. About 25% of people may not have any symptoms (i.e. they remain "asymptomatic"). Occasionally, people may cough up blood in small amounts, and in very rare cases, the infection may erode into the pulmonary artery or a Rasmussen's aneurysm, resulting in massive bleeding. Tuberculosis may become a chronic illness and cause extensive scarring in the upper lobes of the lungs. The upper lung lobes are more frequently affected by tuberculosis than the lower ones. The reason for this difference is not clear. It may be due to either better air flow, or poor lymph drainage within the upper lungs.

Patients with miliary tuberculosis often experience non-specific signs, such as coughing and enlarged lymph nodes. Miliary tuberculosis can also present with enlarged liver (40% of cases), enlarged spleen (15%), inflammation of the pancreas (<5%), and multiple organ dysfunction with adrenal insufficiency (adrenal glands do not produce enough steroid hormones to regulate organ function). Miliary tuberculosis may also present with unilateral or bilateral pneumothorax rarely. Stool may also be diarrheal in nature and appearance.

Other symptoms include fever, hypercalcemia, chorodial tubercles and cutaneous lesions.

Firstly, many patients can experience a fever lasting several weeks with daily spikes in morning temperatures.

Secondly, hypercalcemia prevails in 16 to 51% of tuberculosis cases. It is thought that hypercalcemia occurs as a response to increased macrophage activity in the body. Such that, 1,25 dihydroxycholecalciferol (also referred to as calcitriol) improves the ability of macrophages to kill bacteria; however, higher levels of calcitriol lead to higher calcium levels, and thus hypercalcemia in some cases. Thus, hypercalcemia proves to be an important symptom of miliary tuberculosis.

Thirdly, chorodial tubercules, pale lesions on the optic nerve, typically indicate miliary tuberculosis in children. These lesions may occur in one eye or both; the number of lesions varies between patients. Chorodial tubercules may serve as important symptoms of miliary tuberculosis, since their presence can often confirm suspected diagnosis.

Lastly, between 10 and 30% of adults, and 20–40% of children with miliary tuberculosis have tuberculosis meningitis. This relationship results from myobacteria from miliary tuberculosis spreading to the brain and the subarachnoid space; as a result, leading to tuberculosis meningitis.

The risk factors for contracting miliary tuberculosis are being in direct contact with a person who has it, living in unsanitary conditions, and having an unhealthy diet. In the U.S., risk factors for contracting the disease include homelessness and HIV/AIDS.

Miliary tuberculosis is a form of tuberculosis that is characterized by a wide dissemination into the human body and by the tiny size of the lesions (1–5 mm). Its name comes from a distinctive pattern seen on a chest radiograph of many tiny spots distributed throughout the lung fields with the appearance similar to millet seeds—thus the term "miliary" tuberculosis. Miliary TB may infect any number of organs, including the lungs, liver, and spleen. Miliary tuberculosis is present in about 2% of all reported cases of tuberculosis and accounts for up to 20% of all extra-pulmonary tuberculosis cases.

Conditions which commonly involve hemoptysis include bronchitis and pneumonia, lung cancers and tuberculosis. Other possible underlying causes include aspergilloma, bronchiectasis, coccidioidomycosis, pulmonary embolism, pneumonic plague, and cystic fibrosis. Rarer causes include hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT or Rendu-Osler-Weber syndrome), Goodpasture's syndrome, and granulomatosis with polyangiitis. In children, hemoptysis is commonly caused by the presence of a foreign body in the airway. The condition can also result from over-anticoagulation from treatment by drugs such as warfarin.

Blood-laced mucus from the sinus or nose area can sometimes be misidentified as symptomatic of hemoptysis (such secretions can be a sign of nasal or sinus cancer, but also a sinus infection). Extensive non-respiratory injury can also cause one to cough up blood. Cardiac causes like congestive heart failure and mitral stenosis should be ruled out.

The origin of blood can be identified by observing its color. Bright-red, foamy blood comes from the respiratory tract, whereas dark-red, coffee-colored blood comes from the gastrointestinal tract. Sometimes hemoptysis may be rust-colored.

The most common cause of minor hemoptysis is bronchitis.

- Lung cancer, including both non-small cell lung carcinoma and small cell lung carcinoma.

- Sarcoidosis

- Aspergilloma

- Tuberculosis

- Histoplasmosis

- Pneumonia

- Pulmonary edema

- Pulmonary embolism

- Foreign body aspiration and aspiration pneumonia

- Goodpasture's syndrome

- Granulomatosis with polyangiitis

- Eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (Churg-Strauss syndrome)

- Bronchitis

- Bronchiectasis

- Pulmonary embolism

- Anticoagulant use

- Trauma

- Lung abscess

- Mitral stenosis

- Tropical eosinophilia

- Bleeding disorders

- Hughes-Stovin Syndrome and other variants of Behçet's disease

- Squamous Cell Carcinoma Of Esophagus

Urogenital tuberculosis may cause strictures of the ureter, which, however, may heal when infection is treated.

The infection may affect the kidneys, ureter and bladder and may cause significant damage to each.

Hemoptysis is the coughing up of blood or blood-stained mucus from the bronchi, larynx, trachea, or lungs. This can occur with lung cancer, infections such as tuberculosis, bronchitis, or pneumonia, and certain cardiovascular conditions. Hemoptysis is considered massive at . In such cases, there are always severe injuries. The primary danger comes from choking, rather than blood loss.

Alveolar disease is visible on chest radiography as small, ill-defined nodules of homogeneous density centered on the acini or bronchioles. The nodules coalesce early in the course of disease, such that the nodules may only be seen as soft fluffy edges in the periphery.

When the nodules are centered on the hilar regions, the chest x-ray may develop what is called the "butterfly," or "batwing" appearance. The nodules may also have a segmental or lobar distribution. Air alveolograms and air bronchograms can also be seen.

These findings appear soon after the onset of symptoms and change rapidly thereafter.

A segmental or lobar pattern may be apparent after aspiration pneumonia, atelectasis, lung contusion, localized pulmonary edema, obstructive pneumonia, pneumonia, pulmonary embolism with infarction, or tuberculosis.

Alveolar lung diseases, are a group of diseases that mainly affect the alveoli of the lungs.

A Ghon focus is a primary lesion usually subpleural, often in the mid to lower zones, caused by "Mycobacterium bacilli" (tuberculosis) developed in the lung of a nonimmune host (usually a child). It is named for Anton Ghon (1866–1936), an Austrian pathologist.

It is a small area of granulomatous inflammation, only detectable by chest X-ray if it calcifies or grows substantially (see tuberculosis radiology). Typically these will heal, but in some cases, especially in immunosuppressed patients, it will progress to miliary tuberculosis (so named due to the granulomas resembling millet seeds on a chest X-ray).

The classical location for primary infection is surrounding the lobar fissures, either in the upper part of the lower lobe or lower part of the upper lobe.

If the Ghon focus also involves infection of adjacent lymphatics and hilar lymph nodes, it is known as the Ghon's complex or primary complex. When a Ghon's complex undergoes fibrosis and calcification it is called a Ranke complex.

A diagnosis of latent tuberculosis (LTB), also called latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) means a patient is infected with "Mycobacterium tuberculosis", but the patient does not have active tuberculosis. Active tuberculosis can be contagious while latent tuberculosis is not, and it is therefore not possible to get TB from someone with latent tuberculosis. The main risk is that approximately 10% of these patients (5% in the first two years after infection and 0.1% per year thereafter) will go on to develop active tuberculosis. This is particularly true, and there is added risk, in particular situations such as medication that suppresses the immune system or advancing age.

The identification and treatment of people with latent TB is an important part of controlling this disease. Various treatment regimens are in use to treat latent tuberculosis, which generally need to be taken for several months.

The co-epidemic of tuberculosis (TB) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is one of the major global health challenges in the present time. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports 9.2 million new cases of TB in 2006 of whom 7.7% were HIV-infected. Tuberculosis is the most common contagious infection in HIV-Immunocompromised patients leading to death. These both diseases become dreadful in combination as HIV declines the human immunity while tuberculosis becomes progressive due to defective immune system.This condition becomes more severe in case of multi-drug (MDRTB) and extensively drug resistant TB (XDRTB), which are difficult to treat and contribute to increased mortality. See Multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis. Tuberculosis can occur at any stage of HIV infection. The risk and severity of tuberculosis increases soon after infection with HIV. A study on gold miners of South Africa revealed that the risk of TB was doubled during the first year after HIV seroconversion. Although tuberculosis can be a relatively early manifestation of HIV infection, it is important to note that the risk of tuberculosis progresses as the CD4 cell count decreases along with the progression of HIV infection. The risk of TB generally remains high in HIV-infected patients above the background risk of the general population even with effective immune reconstitution with ART maintaining high CD4 cell counts.

Fever and headache are the cardinal features, confusion is a late feature and coma bears a poor prognosis. Meningism is absent in a fifth of patients with TB meningitis. Patients may also have focal neurological deficits.

Tuberculous pericarditis is a form of pericarditis.

Pericarditis caused by tuberculosis is difficult to diagnose, because definitive diagnosis requires culturing "Mycobacterium tuberculosis" from aspirated pericardial fluid or pericardial , which requires high technical skill and is often not diagnostic (the yield from culture is low even with optimum specimens). The Tygerberg scoring system helps the clinician to decide whether pericarditis is due to tuberculosis or whether it is due to another cause: night sweats (1 point), weight loss (1 point), fever (2 point), serum globulin > 40g/l (3 points), blood total leucocyte count <10 x 10/l (3 points); a total score of 6 or more is highly suggestive of tuberculous pericarditis. Pericardial fluid with an interferon-γ level greater than 50/ml is highly specific for tuberculous pericarditis.

There are no randomized trials which evaluate the length of anti-tuberculosis treatment required for tuberculous pericarditis. There is a small but not conclusive benefit for treatment with a schedule of steroids with anti-tuberculosis drugs. Open surgical drainage of fluid though effective in preventing cardiac tamponade was associated with more deaths.

Croup is characterized by a "barking" cough, stridor, hoarseness, and difficulty breathing which usually worsens at night. The "barking" cough is often described as resembling the call of a seal or sea lion. The stridor is worsened by agitation or crying, and if it can be heard at rest, it may indicate critical narrowing of the airways. As croup worsens, stridor may decrease considerably.

Other symptoms include fever, coryza (symptoms typical of the common cold), and indrawing of the chest wall–known as Hoover's sign. Drooling or a very sick appearance indicate other medical conditions, such as epiglottitis.

Ghon's complex is a lesion seen in the lung that is caused by tuberculosis. The lesions consist of a calcified focus of infection and an associated lymph node. These lesions are particularly common in children and can retain viable bacteria, so are sources of long-term infection and may be involved in reactivation of the disease in later life.

In countries where cow milk infected with "Mycobacterium bovis" has been eliminated (due to culling of infected cows and pasteurization), primary tuberculosis is usually caused by "Mycobacterium tuberculosis" and almost always begins in the lungs. Typically, the inhaled bacilli implant in the distal airspaces of the lower part of the upper lobe or the upper part of the lower lobe, usually close to the pleura. As sensitization develops, a 1- to 1.5-cm area of gray-white inflammation with consolidation emerges, known as the Ghon focus. In most cases, the center of this focus undergoes caseous necrosis. Tubercle bacilli, either free or within phagocytes, drain to the regional nodes, which also often caseate. This combination of parenchymal lung lesion and nodal involvement is referred to as the Ghon complex. During the first few weeks there is also lymphatic and hematogenous dissemination to other parts of the body.

In approximately 95% of cases, development of cell-mediated immunity controls the infection.

Tuberculous meningitis is also known as TB meningitis or tubercular meningitis. Tuberculous meningitis is "Mycobacterium tuberculosis" infection of the meninges—the system of membranes which envelop the central nervous system.

Totally drug-resistant tuberculosis (TDR-TB) is a generic term for tuberculosis strains that are resistant to a wider range of drugs than strains classified as extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis. TDR-TB has been identified in three countries; India, Iran, and Italy. The emergence of TDR-TB has been documented in four major publications. However, it is not yet recognised by the World Health Organization.

TDR-TB has resulted from further mutations within the bacterial genome to confer resistance, beyond those seen in XDR- and MDR-TB. Development of resistance is associated with poor management of cases. Drug resistance testing occurs in only 9% of TB cases worldwide. Without testing to determine drug resistance profiles, MDR- or XDR-TB patients may develop resistance to additional drugs. TDR-TB is relatively poorly documented, as many countries do not test patient samples against a broad enough range of drugs to diagnose such a comprehensive array of resistance. The United Nations' Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases has set up a TDR Tuberculosis Specimen Bank to archive specimens of TDR-TB.

Extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) is a form of tuberculosis caused by bacteria that are resistant to some of the most effective anti-TB drugs. XDR-TB strains have arisen after the mismanagement of individuals with multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB).

Almost one in four people in the world is infected with TB bacteria. Only when the bacteria become active do people become ill with TB. Bacteria become active as a result of anything that can reduce the person’s immunity, such as HIV, advancing age, or some medical conditions. TB can usually be treated with a course of four standard, or first-line, anti-TB drugs (i.e., isoniazid, rifampin and any fluoroquinolone). If these drugs are misused or mismanaged, multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) can develop. MDR-TB takes longer to treat with second-line drugs (i.e., amikacin, kanamycin, or capreomycin), which are more expensive and have more side-effects. XDR-TB can develop when these second-line drugs are also misused or mismanaged and therefore also become ineffective.

XDR-TB raises concerns of a future TB epidemic with restricted treatment options, and jeopardizes the major gains made in TB control and progress on reducing TB deaths among people living with HIV/AIDS. It is therefore vital that TB control be managed properly and new tools developed to prevent, treat and diagnose the disease.

The true scale of XDR-TB is unknown as many countries lack the necessary equipment and capacity to accurately diagnose it. It is estimated however that there are around 40,000 cases per year. As of June 2008, 49 countries had confirmed cases of XDR-TB. As of 2017, that number had risen to more than 100.

Vietnamese tuberculosis refers to certain forms of chronic melioidosis that look clinically very similar to tuberculosis. It is derived from the clinical appearance of the disease in American soldiers returning from the Vietnam War.

Pott disease or Pott's disease is a form of tuberculosis that occurs outside the lungs whereby disease is seen in the vertebrae. Tuberculosis can affect several tissues outside the lungs including the spine, a kind of tuberculous arthritis of the intervertebral joints. The disease is named after Percivall Pott (1714–1788), a British surgeon. The lower thoracic and upper lumbar vertebrae are the areas of the spine most often affected. The formal name for the disease is tuberculous spondylitis and it is most commonly localized in the thoracic portion of the spine.

Pott’s disease results from haematogenous spread of tuberculosis from other sites, often the lungs. The infection then spreads from two adjacent vertebrae into the adjoining intervertebral disc space. If only one vertebra is affected, the disc is normal, but if two are involved, the disc, which is avascular, cannot receive nutrients and collapses. In a process called caseous necrosis the disc tissue dies leading to vertebral narrowing and eventually to vertebral collapse and spinal damage. A dry soft tissue mass often forms and superinfection is rare.

The Ghon complex undergoes progressive fibrosis, often followed by radiologically detectable calcification (Ranke complex), and despite seeding of other organs, no lesions develop. Although they are often confused, Ranke complex and Ghon complex are not synonymous. The Ranke complex is an evolution of the Ghon complex (resulting from further healing and calcification of the lesion).

The Ghon complex is named after Austrian pathologist Anton Ghon; the Ranke complex is named in honour of German pulmonologist Karl Ernst Ranke.

Croup is usually deemed to be due to a viral infection. Others use the term more broadly, to include acute laryngotracheitis, spasmodic croup, laryngeal diphtheria, bacterial tracheitis, laryngotracheobronchitis, and laryngotracheobronchopneumonitis. The first two conditions involve a viral infection and are generally milder with respect to symptomatology; the last four are due to bacterial infection and are usually of greater severity.

The primary symptom of laryngitis is a hoarse voice. Because laryngitis can have various causes, other signs and symptoms may vary. They can include

- Dry or sore throat

- Coughing (both a causal factor and a symptom of laryngitis)

- Frequent throat clearing

- Increased saliva production

- Dysphagia (difficulty swallowing)

- Sensation of swelling in the area of the larynx (discomfort in the front of the neck)

- Globus pharyngeus (feeling like there is a lump in the throat)

- Cold or flu-like symptoms (which, like a cough, may also be a causal factor for laryngitis)

- Swollen lymph nodes in the throat, chest, or face

- Fever

- General muscle pain (myalgia)

- Shortness of breath, predominantly in children