Where I Stand -- Mike O'Callaghan: TB just won't go away

Mike O'Callaghan is the Las Vegas Sun executive editor.

Almost 40 years have passed since Dr. Horace Getz told me, "We can beat this disease, but unless we remain alert it will back into our civilization." Getz, of the Nevada Health Division, was talking about tuberculosis (TB). He was successful in leading Nevada's attack on the disease as he traveled around the state testing for it and then treating cases discovered.

Nevada and the other 49 states have met much success in fighting TB. Winning this battle is especially important for the Silver State, where more than 35 million tourists come to dine, drink and play. What we can't afford is our workers having active TB disease and spreading it through the air to visitors.

Like many other diseases, large numbers of Americans have come to believe that TB has been conquered. A public health pamphlet warns us that, "About 8 million new cases occur each year in the world; over 22,000 cases are reported each year in the United States. There are also an estimated 10 to 15 million people in the U.S. who are infected with the TB germ, with potential to develop TB disease in the future."

Just a few weeks ago a panel of leading health experts recommended tougher TB screening for immigrants from Mexico and other countries with high rates of the disease. Among the other countries named were the Philippines and Vietnam. Also listed in public health literature are some African countries.

The panel's information, as reported in the Los Angeles Times, noted that TB is at an all-time low in the United States but, "In 1999, just 6.4 cases per 100,000 people were detected in the United States, a decrease of 46 percent since 1992, according to the study. But during that same period, tuberculosis among the foreign-born living in this country increased 3 percent."

Specifically, the report zeroed in on Mexico because, "Overall, the proportion of TB patients among immigrants to the United States increased from 27 percent in 1992 to 43 percent in 1999, the report's authors found. Of immigrants diagnosed with TB last year, 23 percent were from Mexico, and 54 percent lived in California, Texas, Illinois, New York and Florida -- all states with significant immigrant populations."

Also recommended by the panel are the following:

So why am I writing this column? Because the panel of health experts' report and the recent report of a local high school youngster coming down with active tuberculosis brought back the words of Horace Getz, Nevada's first effective fighter of the disease. Don't worry, the teachers and students in the local high school are being given skin tests, and county health officials are on top of the situation. Fortunately, Clark County does have a good district health department.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, if the TB bacteria is growing in the lungs there are several symptoms, including:

It doesn't take long to get a painless skin test at your doctor's office or the Clark County Health Department.

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