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How Tuberculosis Traveled Back to Prominence in U.S.; Like People, the Disease Has Become More Global

Posted on: Saturday, 29 January 2005, 15:00 CST

How tuberculosis traveled back to prominence in U.S.

Like people, the disease has become more global

Tuberculosis an airborne disease that usually strikes the lungs was once the leading cause of death in the United States.

With drugs developed in the 1940s, TB generally disappeared in this country, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

In the 1990s, tuberculosis began to resurface, health officials say. In 2000, more than 16,000 cases of were reported in the United States.

"With the extent of travel these days, TB has made a comeback," said Sarah Royce, chief of the tuberculosis control branch of the California Department of Health Services. "TB is an ongoing problem in our state."

Worldwide rates of TB vary, said Marty Cetron, director of the Division of Global Migration and Quarantine for the CDC. Parts of Asia and Africa have higher rates of TB, he said.

Because TB is airborne and spreads from one person to another, and because of travel, TB requires an international response, Royce said.

Wisconsin has a very low rate of TB cases compared with the rest of the country, said Tanya Oemig, director of the tuberculosis program at the Wisconsin Division of Public Health.

"We also do a lot to keep it that way by actively screening people at risk," she said.

Those born in countries where TB is common are at higher risk for getting the disease than are lifelong Wisconsinites, she said. But certain groups are more susceptible, including those in contact with people with TB, those who use illicit drugs, those with a history of homelessness, and those in nursing homes and jails.

A person exposed to TB may inhale the bacteria and become infected, Oemig said. But in 90% of the cases, a person's immune system takes over. In 10% of the cases, the immune system does not successfully fight it, and a person could become sick months or years later, she said.

Georgia Pabst

Symptoms of tuberculosis

The CDC lists these:

-- Fever and night sweats

-- Weight loss

-- Cough that lasts for more than two weeks; coughing up blood or sputum

Copyright 2005, Journal Sentinel Inc. All rights reserved. (Note: This notice does not apply to those news items already copyrighted and received through wire services or other media.)

Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

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