NCJ Number
108811
Journal
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report Volume: 36 Issue: 50-51 Dated: (January 1, 1988) Pages: 817-820
Editor(s)
M B Gregg,
G A Ingraham
Date Published
1988
Length
4 pages
Annotation
In 1986, 22,768 cases of tuberculosis (TB) were reported to the Centers for Disease Control, an increase of 2.6 percent over 1985 and a deviation from the declining trends noted for 1981-1984.
Abstract
Increases occurred in all ethnic/racial groups except Native Americans, with blacks and white Hispanics showing the largest increases. Increases were in adult cases; cases in children declined. Age-specific variation in prevalence in conjunction with the cooccurrence of TB in patients with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) and/or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection suggest that the increases in TB may be the result of an endogenous reactivation of TB rather than increased transmission. To reverse the current trend in TB morbidity, preventive therapy should be offered to immigrants from areas with high TB prevalence and to persons with HIV infection. It is recommended that persons with HIV infection be given a TB skin test and that all patients with risk factors for TB and AIDS should be routinely counseled and tested for HIV antibody. 9 references and 1 table.