MIAMI.- The incidence of tuberculosis (TB) cases in the United States is experiencing levels of increase not seen in a decade, according to the latest government figures.
A recent study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reveals that in 2023, more than 9,600 cases of tuberculosis were recorded in the nation, a figure that represented an increase of 16% since 2022 and the highest since 2013.
The findings also showed that the rate increased from 2.5 per 100,000 people in 2022 to 2.9 in 2023.
According to the CDC, tuberculosis is caused by bacteria that attack the lungs and is spread through the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes. And if not treated properly, it can be fatal.
The report, published in the Morbidity and Mortality Reporte semanal from the CDC, highlights that forty states showed an increase in people infected with tuberculosis, evident in all age groups.
Dr. Philip LoBue, director of the CDC’s Division of Tuberculosis Elimination, said the 2023 numbers were a little higher than expected, “but it’s too early to say what will happen with TB trends in the United States.” next years”.
“Although tuberculosis in the United States is among the lowest-incidence diseases in the world and most residents are at minimal risk, it continues to cause substantial global morbidity and mortality,” the experts wrote.
Other factors
The research indicates that there are also other factors in the development of this pathology, which include other diseases that weaken the immune system and allow latent tuberculosis infections to emerge.
The analysis estimates that 85% of the people counted in 2023 were infected at least one or two years earlier and had what is called latent tuberculosis, which occurs when the bacteria hibernates in the lungs or other parts of the body.
Today, up to 13 million Americans have latent tuberculosis and are not contagious, the report says.
The pandemic
The researchers stated that the spread of tuberculosis throughout the United States is probably due to the large increase in migration and international travel following the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, during the first year of the pandemic the number of reported tuberculosis cases decreased substantially, followed by an increase each year since 2020. The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported that tuberculosis was only behind COVID in fatal infectious diseases worldwide in 2022.
LoBue expressed that although the spread of COVID-19 may have contributed to the reactivation of latent tuberculosis infections, “I would consider it an unknown at this time.”
Vaccine development
The report highlights that vaccines against tuberculosis are being developed and public health workers who were focused on COVID are now testing new approaches to prevent this bacterial infection.
However, he says federal anti-TB funding for state and local health department efforts has been flat, and one of the key antibiotics used against TB has been in short supply in recent years.
CDC researchers highlighted that this post-pandemic increase in tuberculosis cases in the national territory highlights the importance of continuing to inform communities about the rates of this disease in the country.
Likewise, they mentioned that medical providers must be added to tuberculosis elimination efforts, “and strengthen the capacity of public health programs to carry out critical disease prevention and control strategies.”
“Continued progress towards the elimination of tuberculosis will require robust public health systems that are capable of maintaining essential disease prevention and control activities and are prepared to withstand the next pandemic or other large-scale crisis,” they emphasized.
@Lydr05
Source: With information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Health Day and AP
