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In the US TB has been almost non-existent until now. We let these 3rd world country people in who have no interest in being Americans. Who still want to celebrate the cesspools they came from when they get here. We are becoming a 3rd world landing zone and wait until you see the drain it puts on the healthcare system. this is the tip of the iceberg. Thanks to the fucknuts BUSH, KENNEDY and MCCAIN. They all think these people will vote for them. Kennedy has been lying about amnesty for 30 years now.
We should all contact our congressman and get this amnsety appealed like we did the Dubai port deal
Foreign-born are hardest-hit as cases of TB soar in county
By Warren King
Seattle Times medical reporter
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Tuberculosis cases in King County this year have doubled compared with the same period last year, and health officials say foreign-born residents with the disease are having a significant impact.
Because the disease is well-monitored, authorities don't think there is an imminent threat of increased spread to other parts of the community. But they say they're swamped with work as they try to manage the disease.
"We need more help," said Dr. Masa Narita, director of TB control for Public Health — Seattle & King County.
From January through March, 38 TB cases were reported, compared with 18 in the same period last year. In 2006, the annual total was up 16 percent from 2005 — to 145 cases, with 80 percent of the patients foreign-born.
"It is concerning, and we have to continue the thorough job we're doing with case management and timely ... investigations," Narita said.
The proportion of TB patients who are foreign-born has increased from 68 percent in 2003. That has paralleled immigration increases in King County since 2002 from regions where TB is widespread: Eastern Africa (immigration up 95 percent since 2002), Central America (up 47 percent) and Southeast Asia (up 18 percent).
Worldwide, about a third of the population is infected with TB, including an estimated 100,000 people in King County who carry inactive TB bacteria, according to Public Health and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Each year, nearly 9 million people worldwide become sick — develop active TB — and they can spread the bacteria through coughing. Nearly 2 million die of TB annually.
Public Health's TB-control staff oversees all new cases, including watching many patients take their medication to ensure the disease is stopped and doesn't spread. And staff members interview more than 2,500 people who are in close contact with newly infected people to make sure they don't have symptoms.
Full treatment typically costs $7,000 to $9,000 per patient. But about two patients a year in King County are resistant to the two most common drugs for the disease, as are about 125 patients nationally. Those patients need up to two years of treatment instead of the usual six to nine months, and it can cost up to $250,000 each.
Funding for county TB efforts has increased from more than $3.4 million in 2005 to $4.1 million for 2007, including local, state and federal money. The increases have included a rise from $780,000 in 2005 to $877,000 this year to help control an outbreak of TB in the homeless.
We should all contact our congressman and get this amnsety appealed like we did the Dubai port deal
Foreign-born are hardest-hit as cases of TB soar in county
By Warren King
Seattle Times medical reporter
PREV of NEXT
Tuberculosis cases in King County this year have doubled compared with the same period last year, and health officials say foreign-born residents with the disease are having a significant impact.
Because the disease is well-monitored, authorities don't think there is an imminent threat of increased spread to other parts of the community. But they say they're swamped with work as they try to manage the disease.
"We need more help," said Dr. Masa Narita, director of TB control for Public Health — Seattle & King County.
From January through March, 38 TB cases were reported, compared with 18 in the same period last year. In 2006, the annual total was up 16 percent from 2005 — to 145 cases, with 80 percent of the patients foreign-born.
"It is concerning, and we have to continue the thorough job we're doing with case management and timely ... investigations," Narita said.
The proportion of TB patients who are foreign-born has increased from 68 percent in 2003. That has paralleled immigration increases in King County since 2002 from regions where TB is widespread: Eastern Africa (immigration up 95 percent since 2002), Central America (up 47 percent) and Southeast Asia (up 18 percent).
Worldwide, about a third of the population is infected with TB, including an estimated 100,000 people in King County who carry inactive TB bacteria, according to Public Health and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Each year, nearly 9 million people worldwide become sick — develop active TB — and they can spread the bacteria through coughing. Nearly 2 million die of TB annually.
Public Health's TB-control staff oversees all new cases, including watching many patients take their medication to ensure the disease is stopped and doesn't spread. And staff members interview more than 2,500 people who are in close contact with newly infected people to make sure they don't have symptoms.
Full treatment typically costs $7,000 to $9,000 per patient. But about two patients a year in King County are resistant to the two most common drugs for the disease, as are about 125 patients nationally. Those patients need up to two years of treatment instead of the usual six to nine months, and it can cost up to $250,000 each.
Funding for county TB efforts has increased from more than $3.4 million in 2005 to $4.1 million for 2007, including local, state and federal money. The increases have included a rise from $780,000 in 2005 to $877,000 this year to help control an outbreak of TB in the homeless.