Posted on 06/26/2006 10:47:49 PM PDT by neverdem
What ever happened to tuberculosis?
It depends on where you look.
Around the globe, especially in third world countries, tuberculosis is rampant, killing roughly two million people annually.
But in the United States, tuberculosis, epidemic in New York in the early 1990's, is at its lowest rate in decades, with only 989 cases reported in 2005.
As the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene accelerates its efforts to control H.I.V., it is worth remembering how health officials drove tuberculosis down.
"Tuberculosis Roars Back in U.S." read one newspaper headline in the fall of 1992. "Tuberculosis Makes a Menacing Comeback," said another. In fact, rates of the disease — most often a lung infection that is communicable from person to person — had greatly accelerated in several American cities. In New York, there were 3,811 new cases in 1992, up from 1,514 cases in 1980.
There were several reasons why tuberculosis, the so-called white plague, returned. Health departments had slashed budgets for control programs. Poverty was rising, increasing reliance on homeless shelters, where the disease spread rapidly. And people with AIDS, itself epidemic in the 1980's, were especially prone to tuberculosis.
Another factor was also at play: certain patients, many of whom used injection drugs or had psychiatric problems, did not take their medicines regularly. In one often-cited study, 89 percent of tuberculosis patients at Harlem Hospital were lost before completing treatment. This noncompliance, in turn, led to the emergence of drug-resistant — and thus potentially incurable — cases of tuberculosis.
Thanks to a major infusion of federal financing, New York health officials took an active approach, getting as many patients as possible on directly observed therapy, known as D.O.T., in which outreach workers administered tuberculosis medications in clinics, patients' homes and on the street.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
So we're going to put everyone under close watch to keep them from screwing? Got it.
The Nanny State (the irresistable force) meets Political Correctness (the immovable object).
Political Correctness (the immovable object) moved with TB. As Bloomboob seems to have higher aspirations, I expect Political Correctness to yield further in the direction of public health. IIRC, he has a school of public health named after him at Johns Hopkins. Other than thwart the absolute moonbats in NYC, Bloomboob may actually do some good in public health here in NYC with respect to HIV/AIDS.
From the beginning, the homosexual lobby made sure that the focus on aids was not on prevention, but rather on gay rights, like the right to privacy, etc. I would love to see this Bellvue plan put into effect: quarantine all hiv positive individuals in one big farm/reservation complex.
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