AlaskaDenise
In Memoriam
This World Tuberculosis Day, a day aimed at raising public awareness about the disease, there's cause for celebration -- in the U.S., at least.
TB, which is a bacterial infection affecting the lungs that's spread through coughing and sneezing, has hit an all-time low in this country, according to new data from the CDC. In 2010, approximately 11,000 cases of TB were reported -- a decline of nearly 4 percent from 2009.
But the CDC's goal of eliminating the disease by 2010, which was established 1989, was not met. And the new data shows that TB continues to disproportionately affect racial and ethnic minority communities.
"TB rates among Hispanics, non-Hispanic blacks, and Asians were 7, 8, and 25 times greater, respectively, than among non-Hispanic whites," the report from this week's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report states.
It added that foreign-born persons living in the U.S. have a TB infection rate 11 times higher than their native-born counterparts.
(snipped)
Left untreated, the Mayo Clinic reports, TB can be fatal, infecting your brain, kidneys, heart and even your bones......
Read more at:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/24/tuberculosis-in-america_n_840192.html
.
TB, which is a bacterial infection affecting the lungs that's spread through coughing and sneezing, has hit an all-time low in this country, according to new data from the CDC. In 2010, approximately 11,000 cases of TB were reported -- a decline of nearly 4 percent from 2009.
But the CDC's goal of eliminating the disease by 2010, which was established 1989, was not met. And the new data shows that TB continues to disproportionately affect racial and ethnic minority communities.
"TB rates among Hispanics, non-Hispanic blacks, and Asians were 7, 8, and 25 times greater, respectively, than among non-Hispanic whites," the report from this week's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report states.
It added that foreign-born persons living in the U.S. have a TB infection rate 11 times higher than their native-born counterparts.
(snipped)
Left untreated, the Mayo Clinic reports, TB can be fatal, infecting your brain, kidneys, heart and even your bones......
Read more at:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/24/tuberculosis-in-america_n_840192.html
.