In honor of World Tuberculosis Day, an awareness day organized by the Stop TB Partnership, here’s a roundup of the latest in TB as well as some handy background information.
AHCJ New York City Metro chapter’s discussion on TB as a global health problem: Discussion covered all strains of tuberculosis and considered the root socioeconomic causes of the disease. The article is accompanied by audio from expert presentations given at the meeting, as well as copies of the presentations themselves. Article by Sibyl Shalo, presenters included Chrispin Kambili, M.D., (assistant commissioner and director, Bureau of Tuberculosis Control, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene), Donald J. McNeil Jr. (science and health reporter for The New York Times), Lee Reichman, M.D., M.P.H., (executive director, New Jersey Medical School Global Tuberculosis Institute), Mel Spigelman, M.D., (president and CEO, Tuberculosis Alliance) and Janice Hopkins Tanne (journalist and co-author with Reichman of “Timebomb: The Global Epidemic of Multi-Drug Resistant Tuberculosis”).
Decrease in Reported Tuberculosis Cases
From the CDC’s weekly Morbidity and Mortality Report
Read it because: It’s a comprehensive summary of the present state of TB in America, packed with stats and even a little analysis.
Key paragraph:
For 2009, a total of 11,540 tuberculosis cases were reported in the United States. The TB rate was 3.8 cases per 100,000 population, a decrease of 11.4% from the rate of 4.2 per 100,000 reported for 2008. The 2009 rate showed the greatest single-year decrease ever recorded and was the lowest recorded rate since national TB surveillance began in 1953.
Drug-resistant tuberculosis now at record levels
From the World Health Organization
Read it because: It’s 71 pages (the important stuff begins on page 13) of statistics, research and anecdotes covering drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis worldwide.
Key paragraph:
… it is estimated that 440 000 people had MDR-TB worldwide in 2008 and that a third of them died. In sheer numbers, Asia bears the brunt of the epidemic. Almost 50% of MDR-TB cases worldwide are estimated to occur in China and India. In Africa, estimates show 69 000 cases emerged, the vast majority of which went undiagnosed.
And, some quick fact sheets:
World Health Organization TB resources
NIH: Definitions of different TB strains
NIH: Roundup of current TB research efforts
CDC tuberculosis resources
