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Source: http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/healthreport/archives/152949.asp?from=blog_last3
Local TB cases at 30-year high
Active tuberculosis cases in King County reached a 30-year high last year with 161 newly diagnosed people, officials with Public Health ? Seattle & King County said Thursday.
The release of the county's annual TB report coincides with massive budget cuts slated for the health agency next year, including its ]TB control program.[/URL The program responds to outbreaks, runs a clinic for homeless people, and makes sure infected people complete their treatment.
The proposed cuts would greatly impact those areas, officials said. King County Executive Ron Sims has put funding for the program in a "lifeboat," meaning it would be funded through June of next year ? giving Public Health time to find another funding source.
The TB report found that 80 percent of people with active infections were low-income and from communities of color. More than 75 percent were foreign-born. Said David Fleming, Public Health's director and health officer:
As a closely-linked neighbor of our global community, we're vulnerable to a disease that infects one third of the world's population and kills two million people every year. Our work locally is important to ensure that people with active tuberculosis disease are diagnosed and treated?
One factor in last year's increase was an outbreak among 12 people in the local Marshall Islands community. Overall, 16 percent of the TB cases were resistant to at least one type of medication. Said Masa Narita, the county's TB control officer:
TB is curable and preventable, but controlling TB is an ongoing challenge. We have approximately 100,000 people living in our county with latent, or dormant, TB infection who are not contagious, but are potentially future active TB cases.
Tuberculosis is an contagious disease usually of the lungs, but can affect other organs. An active case means the person is sick and infectious. A dormant, or latent, case means the person is not sick or infectious, because the disease's bacteria are inactive inside their body.
Local TB cases at 30-year high
Active tuberculosis cases in King County reached a 30-year high last year with 161 newly diagnosed people, officials with Public Health ? Seattle & King County said Thursday.
The release of the county's annual TB report coincides with massive budget cuts slated for the health agency next year, including its ]TB control program.[/URL The program responds to outbreaks, runs a clinic for homeless people, and makes sure infected people complete their treatment.
The proposed cuts would greatly impact those areas, officials said. King County Executive Ron Sims has put funding for the program in a "lifeboat," meaning it would be funded through June of next year ? giving Public Health time to find another funding source.
The TB report found that 80 percent of people with active infections were low-income and from communities of color. More than 75 percent were foreign-born. Said David Fleming, Public Health's director and health officer:
As a closely-linked neighbor of our global community, we're vulnerable to a disease that infects one third of the world's population and kills two million people every year. Our work locally is important to ensure that people with active tuberculosis disease are diagnosed and treated?
One factor in last year's increase was an outbreak among 12 people in the local Marshall Islands community. Overall, 16 percent of the TB cases were resistant to at least one type of medication. Said Masa Narita, the county's TB control officer:
TB is curable and preventable, but controlling TB is an ongoing challenge. We have approximately 100,000 people living in our county with latent, or dormant, TB infection who are not contagious, but are potentially future active TB cases.
Tuberculosis is an contagious disease usually of the lungs, but can affect other organs. An active case means the person is sick and infectious. A dormant, or latent, case means the person is not sick or infectious, because the disease's bacteria are inactive inside their body.