Friday, February 02, 2007
Infectious, drug resistant diseases
In the United States tuberculosis was declining until 1985. Then in 1986 it increased 1.1% and by 1993 it was up by 18.4% over the 1985 figures. The population groups with TB were primarily homeless, prisoners, men with HIV, migrant farm workers and immigrants. Then the rate of infection started to go back down. Even so, in 2003 the CDC estimated that 10-15 million people in the U.S. were latently infected with TB and increasingly it is drug resistant.
I'm just thinking here--don't have the answers yet--just trying to connect the dots.
I wonder what happened in the mid-1980s and the early 90s to change the infection rate? In 1986 Congress passed the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) and there was a mass legalization of illegal immigrants which had the effect of bringing even more illegals into the country as they joined relatives and hoped for a similar opportunity (like many of the proposals currently being floated). Meanwhile, by 1993, many of the HIV population were surviving due to the drug cocktails and they were no longer immune compromised and so susceptible to TB, so their numbers decreased even as more illegals with the disease entered the country.
Instead of seeing rational measures to keep out people with TB who will be working in our restaurants, nursing homes, and schools, we will see more proposals by the medical community that we create a friendlier environment, so the illegals won't be afraid of medical treatment.
Here's the template, and it appeared in JAMA in 2005:
"More than half of US multidrug-resistant strains occur in foreign-born individuals who reside in the United States. Control measures require intensive case finding, appropriate treatment programs, and the willingness of foreign-born residents to comply with treatment. The latter is a difficult task because cultural and language barriers along with fears about the US legal system hamper public health efforts. As shown in the study by Granich et al, some foreign-born residents may just disappear into society without completing therapy." "Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis," JAMA. 2005;293:2788-2790.
.
I'm just thinking here--don't have the answers yet--just trying to connect the dots.
I wonder what happened in the mid-1980s and the early 90s to change the infection rate? In 1986 Congress passed the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) and there was a mass legalization of illegal immigrants which had the effect of bringing even more illegals into the country as they joined relatives and hoped for a similar opportunity (like many of the proposals currently being floated). Meanwhile, by 1993, many of the HIV population were surviving due to the drug cocktails and they were no longer immune compromised and so susceptible to TB, so their numbers decreased even as more illegals with the disease entered the country.
Instead of seeing rational measures to keep out people with TB who will be working in our restaurants, nursing homes, and schools, we will see more proposals by the medical community that we create a friendlier environment, so the illegals won't be afraid of medical treatment.
Here's the template, and it appeared in JAMA in 2005:
"More than half of US multidrug-resistant strains occur in foreign-born individuals who reside in the United States. Control measures require intensive case finding, appropriate treatment programs, and the willingness of foreign-born residents to comply with treatment. The latter is a difficult task because cultural and language barriers along with fears about the US legal system hamper public health efforts. As shown in the study by Granich et al, some foreign-born residents may just disappear into society without completing therapy." "Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis," JAMA. 2005;293:2788-2790.
.
# posted by Norma : 2/02/2007 03:18:00 PM
