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CDC: High TB Rates among US Immigrants Call for Immediate Measures
eFluxMedia ^ | July 23, 2008 | Anna Boyd

Posted on 07/23/2008 10:50:31 AM PDT by SwinneySwitch

A study published on the July 22 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association called for more aggressive action against tuberculosis, after it had discovered an increase in the number of foreigners in the US infected with TB.

Although TB cases in the US dropped 45 percent between 1996 and 2006 (from more than 25,000 to less than 14,000), according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s statistics, there was a five percent increase in TB cases among immigrant populations living in the US during the same period, Dr. Kevin P. Cain head of the CDC’s Division of Tuberculosis Elimination and lead author of the study said.

According to the study, 57 percent of all reported TB cases in the US are among foreign-born individuals. Of those, more than half were among immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia, even though they make up less than a quarter of the foreign-born contingent.

For the study, Dr. Cain studied data from the US National TB Surveillance System, which registered 46,970 cases among foreign-born persons in the US between 2001 through 2006. Of those, 12,928 (28 percent) were among those who had entered the country within two years.

Moreover, TB cases were four times higher among foreign-born immigrants than among US-born people even for those who had been living in the US for more than 20 years, the study found.

Rates of TB varied substantially by country and region of origin. For example, individuals born in countries of sub-Saharan Africa had annual case rates of greater than 250 per 100,000 persons during the first two years after entering the US. Annual rates were greater than 100 per 100,000 persons for individuals born in Central America, Eastern Europe, the Pacific Islands and South, East and central Asia. By contrast, people born in Western Europe, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand presented lower risk of TB of less than 10 per 100,000.

Dr. Cain said it is impossible to test the 37 million foreign-born individuals currently living in the US. However, the findings would help officials make better use of TB control resources.

“We believe that this is helpful because, while it might not be possible to test and treat all foreign-persons for latent TB, if programs can try to focus on the highest risk groups and can reach out to the populations that need this testing and treatment the most, then they'll have a greater chance of preventing as many cases as possible for the number of tests that they are able to do,” he said.

Dr. Cain said that screening immigrants and refugees from the Philippines and Vietnam would have detected almost half the average 250 TB cases brought into the US annually between 2001 and 2006.

In order to prevent TB cases, Dr. Cain suggested that immigrants should receive overseas diagnosis and treatment prior to immigration, especially those coming from the countries with the highest rate of infection. Another way to curb TB rates would be to find and treat latent TB infections. In these cases, germs are present but the body is able to fight off symptoms. The infection becomes active and able to spread once the immune system begins to weaken as we get old or in case of a serious disease.

However, he added that “as long as TB is out of control globally, as it is, this will be a problem in the US. If you breathe, you’re at risk for TB. This can affect anyone.”


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: aliens; cdc; health; immigrantlist; immigration; jama; tb
Screening immigrants for TB! What will they think of next?
1 posted on 07/23/2008 10:50:31 AM PDT by SwinneySwitch
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Comment #2 Removed by Moderator

To: SwinneySwitch

Geee...come on now...illegal immigration is the best thing for the US since sliced bread.... /sarc


3 posted on 07/23/2008 10:58:44 AM PDT by RSmithOpt (Liberalism: Highway to Hell)
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To: SwinneySwitch

Isn’t that what Ellis Island used to be for??


4 posted on 07/23/2008 11:00:29 AM PDT by wendy1946
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To: SwinneySwitch

Savage has been on this for a long time now.


5 posted on 07/23/2008 11:06:03 AM PDT by TexasCajun
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To: SwinneySwitch
Screening immigrants for TB! What will they think of next?


Rescind Birthright Citizenship Now


Birthright citizenship is the concept whereby anyone born in the USA is automatically a citizen. It matters not whether one was born into a family who had been here for hundreds of years or one who was born 5 minutes after the mother crossed illegally into the country. They are both automatically US citizens.

The birthright concept derives from the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. Section 1 reads in part, "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside." This was written into the Constitution after the Civil War only as a means to give black slaves citizenship which they had not had before.

Since then, the concept has been expanded to include that mother-to-be crossing the border.

It is time to end it.

Birthright citizenship has been abused to the extreme. Illegals coming into the country are well aware of birthright citizenship. One sure way to get a permanent foothold into the US is to bear a child in the US. These illegals, who otherwise have no allegiance to the US, have had no time or inclination to contribute to the country, give birth to what are known as "anchor babies". These babies, in effect, anchor the family to the US for good. About 500,000 anchor babies are born each year to illegals in the US. It adds up.

An anchor baby, as a US citizen now, is entitled to all health care & food stamps & other social service funding that any other "American" is entitled to. And that extends to the babies illegal parents, naturally. There is none to zero chance that the illegal parents will be deported since their child is a US citizen. And don't you know the illegals know it. The birthrate for illegals in the US is astounding. When the child reaches age 21 it can, as a US citizen, sponsor the parents & siblings for permanent, legal residency which leads to citizenship for them. These relatives, in turn, can now sponsor aunty or uncle or cousin or granny, who in turn sponsor their own relatives. This is called "chain immigration" & it is a backdoor way to bring in their whole country, primarily Mexico, to the US.

If you read the 14th Amendment it states that a person born in the country, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, is a citizen. The illegal parents are not subject to the jurisdiction of the US or its states. They are foreign nationals under allegiance to & subject to the laws of their own country. The 14th does not apply to them.

It should be noted that it is not just illegals who latch onto this birthright scheme. Tourists seem to vacation in the US in the 9th month of their pregnancy. They are not fools. They know how to play the game & get the gift of citizenship. What is astounding is that, through treaties, diplomats, etc of foreign countries do not have the privilege of birthright citizenship. If a French diplomat's wife gives birth in Kansas - that child holds no claim to automatic citizenship. Go figure.

Rescinding birthright citizenship will help stem the attraction for illegals to come to the US purely for this bonus. Taxpayer dollars & services will not then go to those who do not deserve them. Other countries have rescinded birthright citizen. The US should follow.

There are 2 bills in Congress addressing this birthright issue. One calls for a Constitutional Amendment - this will never happen. The other would amend the Immigration & Nationality Act to deny birthright citizenship to those who parents are not US citizens. This makes sense & is the easier to do. But Congress in its glorious gutless & politically correct manner will probably not pass the bill. They couldn't stand up to the screams of racism & threats that will surely follow by the immigration crowd. God help America.



Rescind Birthright Citizenship Now


Regarding disease brought in by illegals - check out this "must see" video clip.

Click Here


6 posted on 07/23/2008 11:06:57 AM PDT by B-Cause (It's not what you gather, but what you scatter that tells what kind of life you have lived.)
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To: SwinneySwitch

this article is BS.

my wife was tested for TB in 1997 as one of many tests required to get an immigrant visa. the State Dept. was pretty serious about TB, and if you had it in any form you needed to undergo a 6-month treatment and then reapply for that part of the visa process. tests were done at only one authorized hospital in order to prevent any funny business.

not to mention that another story several months ago said the CDC was finding outbreaks of TB mostly in our “Latino immigrant communities”.


7 posted on 07/23/2008 11:11:20 AM PDT by angkor (Conservatism is not now and never has been a religious movement.)
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To: angkor

by the way, wifey is from SE Asia


8 posted on 07/23/2008 11:12:33 AM PDT by angkor (Conservatism is not now and never has been a religious movement.)
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To: SwinneySwitch
Morons. This was discussed YEARS ago on this site.


9 posted on 07/23/2008 11:14:53 AM PDT by Diogenesis (Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum)
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To: SwinneySwitch
"Immediate" as in "kick all illegals the frig out and screen all legal immigrants BEFORE THEY COME HERE?

Try to bring a healthy disease-free dog into the country without a quarantine period......but illegals get to come here and pass their pestilence?

10 posted on 07/23/2008 12:10:03 PM PDT by ElectricStrawberry (27th Infantry Regiment...cut in half during the Clinton years.)
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