7 ms·
Tuberculosis is rising in the U.S. again. How did we get here?
- irunmyownemail 2y agoMy brother-in-law in the Philippines died from it in 2021. My own brother nearly died from it in the 1950's, was treated for 2 years. Our dad worked 2 FT jobs for years to pay the medical bills. He later suffered from 2 heart attacks but made it through thank God.
- shrubble 2y agoThe Philippines has "XDR TB" as well, the extremely drug resistant form. It is sometimes found in a different part of the lung (higher up) and thus not every radiologist will catch it, either.
- irunmyownemail 2y agoI wasn't aware of that detail, thank you.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- workingdog 2y agoTB was basicallty gone from the US. Until we accepted millions of unscreened people from outside the US where TB was more common.
- badgersnake 2y agoPeople travel, and being sick does not stop them. Testing does not always stop them. We learned this from the rapid spread of Covid across the globe. Unless you plan to lockdown the country entirely, preventing people traveling is not an effective approach.
- zpeti 2y agoAh yes. People didn’t travel before 2020, and that’s why we didn’t have TB back then.
- Dig1t 2y agohttps://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2746906/#:~:text=Most%20tuberculosis%20(TB)%20cases%20in,timely%20access%20to%20health%20services https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2746906/#:~:text=Mo.... >Most tuberculosis (TB) cases in the US are diagnosed in foreign-born persons, and undocumented foreign-born may face particular barriers to timely access to health services.
- shrubble 2y agoIt's not "people traveling" as this phrase is commonly understood, that is the issue; it's "relocation of 5% of a small country's population (Nicaragua for example) into the USA".
- jvanderbot 2y agoWhen leaving the USA, getting TB vaccine is highly recommended and (at least in my experience) free and easy. I think it's fairly clear GP meant folks coming into the USA, and not for short periods, from areas that are not able to supply vaccines regularly. This very well might be an issue. UNICEF and other aid organizations work dilligently to eradicate TB and other poverty-adjacent diseases, so perhaps individuals and the US Gov should increase their aid to other nations.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- BirAdam 2y agoEh. My mother had TB as a kid and lost her childhood best friend to it. Homegrown Americans in a rather pale area.
- HarryHirsch 2y agoTB is a disease of poverty, it doesn't spread that easily, but the risk goes up for people in overcrowded living situations and for those who are chronically malnourished. It's not a great surprise that one would find TB in cross-border migrants, but it's an indictment of the system that the disease continues to spread over here. Next up: lepra, also caused by a mycobacterium
- zabzonk 2y ago> lepra, also caused by a mycobacterium yup, and also due to those pesky immigrants! oh, but wait! it is actually endemic among native armadillos (USA) and native red squirrels (UK) - you almost never see a red squirrel in the UK, so don't worry.
- 082349872349872 2y agoIf that were true, other countries would have the same experience. We have ~20% immigrant population, yet TB cases have been decreasing since at least 2016. (rates since at least 2009?) Why do you think your hypothesis would be stronger than TFA's?
- tzs 2y agoHere are number of TB cases in the US and rate/100k from 1953 through 2023. I don't see any time in there were it was basically gone. year cases rate/100k 2023 9615 2.9 2022 8331 2.5 2021 7870 2.4 2020 7171 2.2 2019 8895 2.7 2018 8997 2.8 2017 9069 2.8 2016 9239 2.9 2015 9538 3.0 2014 9381 2.9 2013 9513 3.0 2012 9906 3.2 2011 10471 3.4 2010 11069 3.6 2009 11491 3.7 2008 12943 4.3 2007 13276 4.4 2006 13720 4.6 2005 14053 4.8 2004 14498 5.0 2003 14835 5.1 2002 15054 5.2 2001 15946 5.6 2000 16309 5.8 1999 17494 6.3 1998 18288 6.6 1997 19753 7.2 1996 21212 7.9 1995 22727 8.5 1994 24207 9.2 1993 25105 9.7 1992 26673 10.4 1991 26283 10.4 1990 25701 10.3 1989 23495 9.5 1988 22436 9.2 1987 22517 9.3 1986 22768 9.5 1985 22201 9.3 1984 22255 9.4 1983 23846 10.2 1982 25520 11.0 1981 27373 11.9 1980 27749 12.2 1979 27669 12.3 1978 28521 12.8 1977 30145 13.7 1976 32105 14.7 1975 33989 15.7 1974 30122 14.1 1973 30998 14.6 1972 32882 15.7 1971 35217 17.0 1970 37137 18.1 1969 39120 19.3 1968 42623 21.2 1967 45647 23.0 1966 47767 24.3 1965 49016 25.2 1964 50874 26.5 1963 54042 28.6 1962 53315 28.6 1961 53726 29.2 1960 55494 30.7 1959 57535 32.4 1958 63534 36.3 1957 67149 39.0 1956 69895 41.4 1955 77368 46.6 1954 79775 48.9 1953 84304 52.6 Source: https://www.cdc.gov/tb/statistics/reports/2022/table1.htm https://www.cdc.gov/tb/statistics/reports/2022/table1.htm for 1953 through 2022. 2023 added from https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/73/wr/mm7312a4.htm https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/73/wr/mm7312a4.htm
- hatenberg 2y agoWe all know how we got there. Trust in everything has been destroyed including life saving treatments, vaccinations and working interventions.
- rustcleaner 2y ago[flagged]
- bun_terminator 2y ago[flagged]
- rustcleaner 2y ago[flagged]
- OutOfHere 2y agoSpecifically, illegal immigrants who are not subject to a lung scan. As for legal immigrants, they're already fully subject to a lung scan, although a ten year visa adds risk.
- rustcleaner 2y ago[flagged]
- crest 2y agoWithholding medical treatments for profit? Allowing media to knowingly lie about the risks and benefits of medical treatments for short term financial gains? We could’ve a world without TB not just a few nation states without it. Pathogens don’t recognize lines on maps unless draconian border security prevents all hosts from crossing said lines. I don’t think you want to close all sea- and airports, built and maintain a continuous line of watch towers and minefields, enforce shoot to kill orders and pay for it all right? It wouldn’t just be immoral and stupid, but also more expensive (in case you don’t give a fuck about people that don’t look like your immediate family).
- zabzonk 2y ago> I don’t think you want to close all sea- and airports, built and maintain a continuous line of watch towers and minefields, enforce shoot to kill orders and pay for it all right? It wouldn’t just be immoral and stupid, but also more expensive Quite. But some people here do seem to want this. TB is not a moral disease (there are no such), not a disease of immigrants (when I worked in Edinburgh in the 1970s it was all over the place among Scots), and is very treatable if you can a) pay for the quite cheap treatment and b) educate people to keep taking it. You can also immunise against it.
- therein 2y ago[flagged]
- zabzonk 2y agoTB is difficult to diagnose - the bacteria grow slowly, and thus do severity of symptoms. And it is difficult to treat - the bacteria wrap themselves in a waxy sheath, which stops the drugs getting through so they have to be taken over a long period, and the drugs have unpleasant side effects, so people don't like taking the long courses. It's spread by people living in close proximity for quite long periods, such as may be the result of living in poverty. This all makes it very difficult/impossible to eradicate. Speaking as an ex TB lab technician, but not for a long time past.
- 40lititx5mol0i 2y ago[flagged]
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- readthenotes1 2y agoIt would not be so political if there weren't some basis in illegal immigration and subsequent treatment of those immigrants being a source of the rise. Oh, and the inability to acknowledge that
- 40lititx5mol0i 2y agoThanks for proving my point! :)
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- hoistbypetard 2y agohttps://archive.ph/fZ3VE https://archive.ph/fZ3VE
- claaams 2y agoIts cool that so many people are blaming immigrants and foreign policy and border policy instead of the lack of accessibility to healthcare and affordable treatments or accessibility to preventative care. We truly are in the fuck you and it’s your fault I don’t have mine era.
- readthenotes1 2y agohttps://www.newsweek.com/illegal-immigrant-tuberculosis-louisiana-lawsuit-ice-1973916 https://www.newsweek.com/illegal-immigrant-tuberculosis-loui... It's easier to blame people for being incredibly irresponsible when we have an example of them doing so.
- simonsarris 2y agoThe US spends more on public healthcare per capita than any nation on the planet. (We also spend a lot more privately). I think this is a very and incorrect point of blame that has no basis in reality.
- bestouff 2y agoAre you sure the US isn't just spending a lot on a private healthcare predatory system, not healthcare per se ?
- maxerickson 2y agoYour "this" is obscure. Do you mean it to address the parent's comment about affordable treatments?
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- lottin 2y agoThe US taxpayer should not be paying for immigrants' healthcare expenses.
- saturn_vk 2y ago
- BirAdam 2y agoI’d think the answer here is rather simple… Americans are extremely unhealthy, eat garbage, don’t get sun or exercise, don’t sleep enough, and therefore have weakened immune systems. The last of those appears to be a rather significant indicator for immune health btw, so make sure you’re sleeping enough.
- OutOfHere 2y agoIt is true that sufficient exercise can boost the immune system to where it can fight off a chesty invasion within a few hours, but the level of exercise required for a sufficient effect is intense exercise daily, not just moderate exercise, but also without going overboard to the point where it is a detriment. And yes, I agree about the other factors, but they're insufficient without intense exercise.
- fithisux 2y agoStay safe!
- twright 2y agoThis is an article from May 2024 about a CDC report published in March. The report itself is more insightful: https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/73/wr/mm7312a4.htm https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/73/wr/mm7312a4.htm
- jmclnx 2y agoSimple: 1. CDC Funding Cuts 2. antibiotic resistance and not profitable to look for other "cures". 3. Poor Health Care Insurance in the US. People do not want to go to the Doctor for fear of the bill. 4. Anti-science trend in the US. The last election seemed to prove it is approaching 50%
- turkey99 2y agoWhat about vaccines? In the UK we all have a scar from BCG vaccine
- badgersnake 2y agoIts not given routinely anymore in the UK, since the likelihood of infection is so low. If you’re at higher risk you can still get it. https://www.nhs.uk/vaccinations/bcg-vaccine-for-tuberculosis-tb/ https://www.nhs.uk/vaccinations/bcg-vaccine-for-tuberculosis...
- quattrofan 2y ago[dead]
- uslic001 2y agoLegal immigrants are screened for TB if they are from high risk countries. The illegal immigrants don't get screened and are the sole cause of the explosion of TB cases in the US. Stop putting your head in the sand.