Thread: Hundreds of Lubbock Residents Possibly Exposed to Tuberculos

Who's the carrier that exposed them? The simple fact that the person is not mentioned leads me to beleive it may be an illegal alien.

http://www.kcbd.com/Global/story.asp?S=5899757&nav=3w6y

1/5/07
Hundreds of Lubbock Residents Possibly Exposed to Tuberculosis


2,800 Lubbock area residents are receiving notice about the possible Tuberculosis exposure. University Medical Center made the announcement late Friday evening.

Teberculosis is an airborne bacteria that usually effects your lungs.

UMC says there was a TB exposure at the hospital between September to November of 2006. Once they became aware of the exposure, UMC staff worked with the Texas Department of State Health to create a list of possible exposures.

UMC Vice President Greg Bruce tells NewsChannel 11 they took an aggressive approach in developing a list of all those who may have been exposed, due to the longer time period.

"We were able to pin point where patients may have come into contact and could have been potentially exposed again. We took a liberal approach and cast a wide net," Greg Bruce, Vice President, UMC.

Bruce says UMC staff are tested on an annual basis. Again, TB is airborne bacteria. You can pick it up anywhere in the community.

Health experts say it's usually spread through coughing and coming in close contact with someone who has TB. The Chairman of Infection Control at UMC tells NewsChannel 11 the bacteria takes at least two months to show up in a positive skin test and other symptoms come later.

"Causes coughing, fever, a bad cough that it will cough up blood. This is 3, 6, 8 months later, even a year later and it can spread via bloodstream to other parts of the body," says Dr.Richard Lampe, Chairman of Infection Control, UMC.

Dr. Lampe says if a skin test is found positive, an X-ray typically follows, along with needed medication. Lampe also tell us once an infected person starts treatment they no longer can spread the disease, nor can one spread it while it's lying dormant.

So what does this mean if you have one of these letters?

Texas Department of State Health Services is providing free tests January 8th, 9th and 10th. Testing will be done from 8:30am to 11:00am and then again from 1:00pm until 4:00pm.

All tests must be checked 48 hours later to record results. The clinic is located at 1109 Kemper. For more information, call 744-3577.

We've also learned even if you are opening UMC's letter, it doesn't mean you need to rush out to be tested. Experts say waiting until next week will not affect your health.

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Other facts included in the e-mail I received.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi? cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=7560963&dopt=Abst ract


Tuberculosis (TB) has become more common during the past five years in several areas of the USA . Occurrence has been facilitated by the increasing number of patients with concurrent HIV infection, by cases due to multiple-drug- resistant strains, by incomplete TB therapy among homeless and non-compliant patients, and by cases in immigrants from other countries where TB prevalence is high. These features mean that the major burden of TB today is being borne by inner-city health care facilities that care for the poor.


http://www.lungusa.org/site/pp.asp?c=dvLUK9O0E&b=35815

Only 27 percent of primary MDR-TB cases were in U.S. born persons. The percentage of U.S. born persons with MDR-TB has remained stable at approximately 0.6 percent since 2000. The proportion of MDR-TB cases among foreign-born persons has increased from 26 percent in 1993 to 73 percent of MDR-TB cases in 2004.4

Tuberculosis (TB) has become more common during the past five years in several areas of the USA .

Hmmm...Gee...I wonder why that is? Could it be that ILLEGALS are bringing their 3rd world diseases here? I'd have to say YES!