Wellness

[sfnative]

On 7/21/2014 lovestoteach said:

Is active TB on the rise due to HIV infections?

Yes, because the HIV patients unknowingly had latent TB, which went full blown when HIV set in. I had a number of patients in isolation due to this. Have to qualify this "isolation," as that was in the early 80s.

[sfnative]

This speaks to the tenacity of the TB bacterium:

In the late 70s, when AIDS was really getting a foothold in San Francisco's gay community, a collaborative study was done by UCSF and the SF Health Department. At that time, the Polk Street area was the center of gay life and activities. This was before it moved to the Castro.

The researchers set out to examine samples taken from bars on Polk Street. They swabed the edges of hand-washed barware, then took the samples back to the lab. (Those were the days when all glassware used in a bar were handwashed.) The researchers were able to plate (grow) TB from several glasses and several other bacterium. The reason the TB did not wash off in the soap water spoke to (1) the waxy coating on the bacterium and (2) poor washing technique by the person washing the glasses.

The TB bacterium must be respected.

[LTT1]

Thanks sfnative. That sounds like one tough bacterium... Did I read also that the TB organism is becoming resistant? My doctor said that polio is also making a comeback. One incident of a child contracting polio today and everyone will start vaccinating again, he said.

[Roni]

TB and many other things are returning...why?? our borders are totally open add to that the fact that many parents now don't want to vaccinate their children... so --TB, Whooping Cough, etc are showing up again. Healthcare workers are routinely required to get a TB test every two years at a minimum - at least here in SE FL....

[happycat]

If a person has been diagnosed with active TB, do they have to be quarantined?

[LTT1]

On 7/21/2014 happycat said:

If a person has been diagnosed with active TB, do they have to be quarantined?

This is an "I suppose" answer. I suppose that people with active infections are only told to stay away from others for the standard two weeks until the antibiotic works. IF the antibiotic works. I sometimes wonder what I am exposed to among the hs teen population. It must be treated like cold/flu... Not quarantined, but only "suggested?"

[Fifi1]

Counselor here, and required by county to test for TB yearly, since I work with high risk population.

[terrier3]

On 7/21/2014 Roni said:

TB and many other things are returning...why?? our borders are totally open add to that the fact that many parents now don't want to vaccinate their children... so --TB, Whooping Cough, etc are showing up again. Healthcare workers are routinely required to get a TB test every two years at a minimum - at least here in SE FL....

This has little to nothing to do with people from other countries.

There are more than enough poor, homeless, or low income people who get TB and other infectious diseases. They don't have insurance and don't see doctors regularly, so they pass these illnesses along. It's common among fast food workers and can really spread from there - cashiers too and other service workers.

Many parents now (for some crazy reason) don't want to immunize their children either. That has led to a major upswing in measles, whooping cough and other childhood diseases that were almost unheard of here.

I know parents who homeschool, so they won't get hassled for not getting their kids immunized.

[happycat]

On 7/21/2014 lovestoteach said:

On 7/21/2014 happycat said:

If a person has been diagnosed with active TB, do they have to be quarantined?

This is an "I suppose" answer. I suppose that people with active infections are only told to stay away from others for the standard two weeks until the antibiotic works. IF the antibiotic works. I sometimes wonder what I am exposed to among the hs teen population. It must be treated like cold/flu... Not quarantined, but only "suggested?"

Thank you.

[terrier3]

On 7/21/2014 lovestoteach said:

On 7/21/2014 happycat said:

If a person has been diagnosed with active TB, do they have to be quarantined?

This is an "I suppose" answer. I suppose that people with active infections are only told to stay away from others for the standard two weeks until the antibiotic works. IF the antibiotic works. I sometimes wonder what I am exposed to among the hs teen population. It must be treated like cold/flu... Not quarantined, but only "suggested?"

Many states and localities have laws that insist that people with active TB must stay at home and must receive their medication daily from home healthcare nurses, who make sure they take the medicine.

It is a public health concern and governed by laws.