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Traffic on "The Line" TB spread
EFE
Thursday August 12, 2010 00:52
Cases of tuberculosis, a disease believed eradicated in the United States increased in the border area, particularly in San Diego, the world's busiest border and therefore more vulnerable to infectious diseases.
With over 50 million people who cross from Mexico to San Diego by the San Ysidro border each year, this area is particularly vulnerable to such diseases.
In 2008, for example, found positive cases of tuberculosis among Hispanic workers in a luxury hotel complex in the city of Carlsbad, and in the past, rare cases of tuberculosis associated with fresh cheese from Tijuana have been presented in San Diego, Efe said Kathleen Moser, head of TB control in San Diego County.
A recent study by the International Community Foundation (ICF), carried out for over a year in collaboration with institutions of higher education in San Diego and Tijuana, presented concrete proposals to combat the problem.
The ICF noted that because the tuberculosis infection in a disease whose life is taken for air for a successful model could be applied to control diseases that require cross border solutions, such as H1N1.
About 600 cases of pulmonary tuberculosis were confirmed in Tijuana annually between 2006 and 2007, with a rate of 46 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, which is substantially higher than in neighboring states.
Since 2000, there has been averaging over 300 new cases of tuberculosis per year in San Diego County, of which about 40 percent were from people born in Mexico, according to the agency and Health Services Human San Diego County.
The incidence of tuberculosis in San Diego is twice the U.S. average, which places it as the highest in the nation, and in the case of Tijuana this represents 2.8 times the national average.
"The U.S. investment in tuberculosis control in Mexico can be a cost effective means to control it with economic benefits for the border region, but requires greater participation by private companies and government agencies," suggests the study.
In Baja California, for example, smear microscopy is currently the standard diagnostic method for active tuberculosis, but fails to detect half the cases.
According to the report, this could be remedied for less than $ 213,000 a year in supplies and staff salaries, which would significantly increase the detection and diagnosis of the disease, in addition to drug resistance tests.
In San Diego, the average cost associated with the management of tuberculosis is at least 21.3 million annually, with an average of 300 cases, including approximately 12.7 million in revenue losses of patients because to the disease.
Tuberculosis is a chronic, contagious, subtle and complex and can stay dormant for years after initial infection, and active cases whose symptoms include persistent cough, fever, night sweats and weight loss for no apparent reason, said Dr. Moser .
Once active, the disease often takes weeks or months to diagnose properly, thus giving room for others to be exposed and infected by the disease, said the medical officer.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that two billion people, or one-third of the global population, are currently infected with bacilli of M. tuberculosis. Of those infected, an estimated one in 10 will develop active, infectious form of the disease at some time in their lives, and those with active TB will infect an average of 10-15 people per year if not treated properly.
Before the discovery of streptomycin as a priest in 1946, the disease was fatal in 50 percent of infected patients, but discovered that daily treatment of drugs for six months was highly effective, the rate began to decline around the world.