Tuberculosis cases drop 8 percent

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Tuberculosis cases drop 8 percent

Posted 9-6-99
By Richard Marini

Atlanta. For the sixth consecutive year, the number of reported tuberculosis cases in the United States declined in 1998, according to the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

There were 18,361 TB cases in 1998, an 8 percent drop from 1997, which is 35 percent lower than in 1992, the height of TB resurgence in the United States. While the 1998 rate of 6.8 TB cases per 100,000 people was 35 percent lower than in 1992, it's still far above the year 2000 goal of 3.5.

Tuberculosis experts credit nationwide programs for the decrease. "We've put more resources and personnel into efforts to reduce, prevent, and control the spread of TB," said Amy Curtis, PhD, an epidemiologist with the CDC's division of TB elimination. "We're seeing the payoff."

In particular, Curtis cited the directly observed therapy program, in which caseworkers travel to patients' homes, work, or schools to deliver medication and observe them taking it. "The antibiotic regimen for TB lasts six months," she explained. "Often patients start feeling better quickly, so if they're not watched, they'll stop taking their drugs."

While every state reported at least one case of the disease, five states-California, Florida, Illinois, New York, and Texas-accounted for 54 percent of the total. But these states also accounted for 68 percent of the overall decrease in TB cases between 1992 and 1998. The four cities with the highest number of new cases reported were New York (1,558), Los Angeles (544), Chicago (473), and Houston (424). Reported cases in all four cities also dropped an average of 41 percent since 1992.

Immigrants account for 42 percent of TB cases nationwide, up from 27 percent in 1992, according to the CDC. The rate among foreign-born U.S. residents remains four to six times higher than for those born in the United States. Countries of birth with the highest number of cases were Mexico (23 percent of total), the Philippines (13 percent), and Vietnam (10 percent). In most instances, the patient is infected outside the United States, and the disease is later activated.