He Chicago Department of Public Health (CHPD) announced last Tuesday the detection of tuberculosis cases among recently arrived migrants staying in the city's shelters. The news came amid the fight against another measles outbreak, which has raised public health concerns.
Although the exact number of cases of tuberculosis has not been disclosed, Jacob Martín, Public Information coordinator for the department, explained in a statement that they were aware of “a small number of cases of tuberculosis among the new arrivals.” Until now, the number of diagnosed cases has not been specified or in which shelters the infected people are located.
Tuberculosis remains one of the world's deadliest infectious diseases. According to World Health Organization (WHO), about a quarter of the world's population has been infected by the tuberculosis bacillus and between 5% and 10% of these people present symptoms. In 2022, 1.3 million people lost their lives after contracting this infection.
Members of the local council have warned the public health department and other officials about the impact of not taking necessary measures in this situation. In a message on his X account, the councilor Raymond Lopez He showed a photograph of the tuberculosis diagnosis of three migrants, which he accompanied with a message showing his discontent with the way this situation has been treated.
“And now here we are: measles and now tuberculosis, both confirmed in Chicago. What a shame for all the spokespersons who worked so hard to keep this secret,” the message reads.
I have warned Chicago for months about what was already here. Performative politics & hurt feelings kept City Hall from avoiding the obvious looming disaster. Anyone who demanded action to protect our residents was called racist, xenophobic, and anti-immigrant by fringe… https://t.co/Hf2Rfh0psS pic.twitter.com/dObytxfERC
—Ald. Raymond Lopez (@RaymondALopez) April 3, 2024
Faced with this situation that mainly affects vulnerable communities, the Government led by Brandon Johnson is obliged to act quickly. Since, as happened in 2020 during the covid-19 pandemic, diagnosing respiratory diseases more and better can reverse the impact of the number of people who contract the disease and lose their lives.
What is tuberculosis?
Tuberculosis is a respiratory disease caused by bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis. This condition most frequently affects the lungs—although not exclusively. The kidneys, spine, lymph nodes and brain can also be attacked.
How is it transmitted?
Pulmonologist Ricardo Sandoval, member of the Intensive Care Department of the National Institute of Medical Sciences and Nutrition Salvador Zubirán, states that this condition is spread when an infected person sneezes or coughs and someone else inhales the bacteria. But not everyone who gets tuberculosis gets sick.
What are the main symptoms?
Dr. Sandoval points out that the symptoms of active tuberculosis are the following:
- Cough
- Chest pains
- Weakness or fatigue
- Weightloss
- Lack of appetite
- Fever
- Night sweats
- Shaking chills
And in situations like the one experienced in Chicago, it is important to clarify that this condition is not transmitted by:
- shake hands with someone
- Touching a person who is infected
- Share a home
- Share a bathroom
Treatment
This disease is preventable, curable and can be treated with medications, as explained by pulmonologist Miguel Ángel Salazar, a member of the Tuberculosis and Pleural Diseases Clinic of the National Institute of Respiratory Diseases (INER). But if someone does not receive the necessary care, it can become a serious or fatal condition.
The antibiotics commonly used to eradicate it are four:
- isoniazid
- rifampicin
- pyrazinamide
- ethambutol
Dr. Salazar emphasizes that for the treatment to be effective, the medications must be taken daily for a period of 6 to 9 months. It is dangerous to stop treatment prematurely or without medical advice because this action can cause the tubercle bacilli to acquire resistance to the drugs and lead to drug-resistant tuberculosis.
This is why the current implications of tuberculosis continue to dominate medical discussions, according to the World Tuberculosis Report 2023, the World Health Organization stated that in 2022 tuberculosis was the second global cause of death from a single agent. infectious, after covid-19, and that the global targets against tuberculosis have not been achieved or remain not achieved. This same document maintains that tuberculosis causes an average of more than 3,000 deaths daily.
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