The Bobster
Senior News Editor since 2004
http://nypost.com/2015/02/27/15-chinese-immigrants-struck-with-tuberculosis-in-nyc/
15 Chinese immigrants struck with tuberculosis in NYC
By Carl Campanile
February 27, 2015 | 1:35pm
Photo: Shutterstock
Tuberculosis has struck more than a dozen Chinese immigrants with ties to Brooklyn’s Sunset Park over the last 20 months, the city’s Health Department said Friday.
“We want people to be aware of the situation,” Assistant Health Commissioner Joseph Burzynski told The Post..
Burzynski said people who are infected may not know it. And doctors who’ve never dealt with TB before need to be on the alert when treating patients.
“We do believe we have this under control,” he said.
Fifteen cases have been identified since June of 2013, including seven since last September, officials said.
“An outbreak of tuberculosis is occurring among young adults born in China and living in, or linked to, Sunset Park, Brooklyn,” the Health Department said in an alert to medical providers.
“Other common characteristics include male gender, frequent use of Internet cafes, and work in out-of-state restaurants.”
TB is a bacterial infection that commonly attacks the lungs.
The infection is contagious and can be spread through coughs and sneezes in close quarters. The illness is deadly if left untreated.
Health officials are encouraging doctors to test for TB and report suspected cases to the department within 24 hours. Patents can also be referred to one of the Health Department’s four Chest Centers for TB testing at no cost.
“While overall tuberculosis rates in NYC have declined steadily over the past two decades, the proportion of cases among persons born outside the United States has increased to 84 percent, and local TB transmission continues to occur,” Douglas Proops and Jeanne Sullivan Meissner of the Health Department’s Bureau of Tuberculosis Control said in the alert.
There were 656 TB cases reported in the city in 2013, down sharply from the 3,811 at the height of the AIDS epidemic in 1992, when patients with compromised immune systems came down with TB.
15 Chinese immigrants struck with tuberculosis in NYC
By Carl Campanile
February 27, 2015 | 1:35pm
Photo: Shutterstock
Tuberculosis has struck more than a dozen Chinese immigrants with ties to Brooklyn’s Sunset Park over the last 20 months, the city’s Health Department said Friday.
“We want people to be aware of the situation,” Assistant Health Commissioner Joseph Burzynski told The Post..
Burzynski said people who are infected may not know it. And doctors who’ve never dealt with TB before need to be on the alert when treating patients.
“We do believe we have this under control,” he said.
Fifteen cases have been identified since June of 2013, including seven since last September, officials said.
“An outbreak of tuberculosis is occurring among young adults born in China and living in, or linked to, Sunset Park, Brooklyn,” the Health Department said in an alert to medical providers.
“Other common characteristics include male gender, frequent use of Internet cafes, and work in out-of-state restaurants.”
TB is a bacterial infection that commonly attacks the lungs.
The infection is contagious and can be spread through coughs and sneezes in close quarters. The illness is deadly if left untreated.
Health officials are encouraging doctors to test for TB and report suspected cases to the department within 24 hours. Patents can also be referred to one of the Health Department’s four Chest Centers for TB testing at no cost.
“While overall tuberculosis rates in NYC have declined steadily over the past two decades, the proportion of cases among persons born outside the United States has increased to 84 percent, and local TB transmission continues to occur,” Douglas Proops and Jeanne Sullivan Meissner of the Health Department’s Bureau of Tuberculosis Control said in the alert.
There were 656 TB cases reported in the city in 2013, down sharply from the 3,811 at the height of the AIDS epidemic in 1992, when patients with compromised immune systems came down with TB.