Edhat StaffSource: Public Health Department
Tuberculosis (TB) remains the world’s leading infectious killer, being responsible for the deaths of nearly 1.7 million people each year and representing the ninth leading cause of death globally. On March 20, 2018, Supervisor Steve Lavagnino will present a proclamation in honor of World TB Day.
Although TB is preventable and curable, the disease still exists in our community resulting in widespread negative health, social and economic impacts. The Santa Barbara County Public Health Departments Disease Control Program continues to promote and emphasize new recommendations for tuberculosis treatment to increase knowledge and promote adherence with treatment completion. Elimination of tuberculosis begins with prevention.
Up to 13 million people in the U.S. are estimated to have latent tuberculosis infection. Latent TB infection is a condition in which a person is infected with the TB bacteria, but does not currently have active TB disease and cannot spread TB to others. However, if these bacteria become active and multiply, latent TB infection can turn into TB disease. Without treatment, on average 5-10% of people with latent TB infection will develop TB disease. For some people with chronic diseases such as diabetes, the risk of active TB is much higher. CDC and the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommend testing populations that are at increased risk for TB infection.
The Public Health Department makes recommendations for short-term treatment of latent TB to prevent active disease. TB prevention is a partnership and clinicians, health care agencies, community organizations, and leaders, especially those serving at-risk populations, have a critical role in TB elimination. With decreasing incidences of TB in California and in Santa Barbara County, we are on our way toward leading the way for a TB Free United States.
The 2018 U.S. World TB Day theme is “Wanted Leaders for a TB Free United States. We can make history. End TB”.
