Post by pavel on Feb 1, 2016 3:23:47 GMT -6
Paying for testing turns up 100 TB infections in small Alabama town
Tucked behind quaint downtown Marion sits a neighborhood called The Hill, where bumpy roads patched with old asphalt lead to modest working-class homes, broken down trailers and low-income apartments.
The Hill is at the epicenter of an unprecedented outbreak of tuberculosis that has claimed three lives since 2011. In a town of 3,500, 21 people have been diagnosed with active tuberculosis disease in the last two years. One hundred more have no symptoms but have tested positive for tuberculosis infection, according to the Alabama Department of Public Health. Two TB cases linked to Marion have been identified in Centreville and four have been diagnosed in Tuscaloosa.
The rate of tuberculosis disease in Marion exceeds many developing countries, and is more than 100 times higher than the statewide rate, according to the Alabama Department of Public Health.
"In my 21 years in TB, I've never seen anything like this," said Pam Barrett, director of the Division of TB Control for the Alabama Department of Public Health.
Read more: www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2016/01/post_88.html
Tucked behind quaint downtown Marion sits a neighborhood called The Hill, where bumpy roads patched with old asphalt lead to modest working-class homes, broken down trailers and low-income apartments.
The Hill is at the epicenter of an unprecedented outbreak of tuberculosis that has claimed three lives since 2011. In a town of 3,500, 21 people have been diagnosed with active tuberculosis disease in the last two years. One hundred more have no symptoms but have tested positive for tuberculosis infection, according to the Alabama Department of Public Health. Two TB cases linked to Marion have been identified in Centreville and four have been diagnosed in Tuscaloosa.
The rate of tuberculosis disease in Marion exceeds many developing countries, and is more than 100 times higher than the statewide rate, according to the Alabama Department of Public Health.
"In my 21 years in TB, I've never seen anything like this," said Pam Barrett, director of the Division of TB Control for the Alabama Department of Public Health.
Read more: www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2016/01/post_88.html