TB and Immigration

According to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health Tuberculosis Control Program Epidemiology Department , data is not collected on legal vs. illegal immigrants related to transmission of Tuberculosis. TB Control health educators note, however, that while illegal immigrants may contribute to a portion of TB cases in the U.S. and L.A. County, they certainly do not constitute a majority. In fact, a recent study from the November issue of the American Thoracic Society's American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine found that immigrants from countries with high TB incidence "do not significantly contribute to the spread of TB within native-born populations of low-incidence countries." http://www.infectioncontroltoday.com/hotnews/tb-breaches-borders.html

Although many blogs and other websites claim TB is spread by illegal immigrants, such sources simply do not hold up to studies published in peer-reviewed medical journals. "That is not to dismiss the relationship between illegal immigration and infection control." says BREATHE LA Tuberculosis Program Coordinator, ROmesh Anketell, "Certainly the linkage should be looked at, but it would be unfair to characterize illegal immigrants as playing a leading role in the spread of TB.

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