News Briefs Sedgwick County, Kansas Works to Fight Rise in TuberculosisMay 30, 2003 Health authorities are stepping up efforts to fight TB in
Sedgwick County (Wichita), Kan., which accounted for almost a
third of the state's reported cases last year. Nationally, TB has
been dropping since 1995, falling from 8.7 cases per 100,000
people to 5.2 in 2002. But the rate in Kansas increased from 3.1
in 1995 to 3.3 last year. Twenty-nine of the 89 TB cases reported
in Kansas last year were in Sedgwick County, and so far this year
the county has seen 14 cases, said Peggy Baker, supervisor for
the county health department's TB control clinic. The county's
cases cross all racial, ethnic and cultural backgrounds. The
department, which previously had one TB nurse and one
interpreter, is adding a second nurse to focus more on
prevention.
Adapted from:Associated Press 05.29.03 This article was provided by CDC National Prevention Information Network. It is a part of the publication CDC HIV/Hepatitis/STD/TB Prevention News Update.
|