Tuberculosis along the Mexican Border

Here is the link to an article in the Mexican Newspaper La Cronica.

It states:

“El área más problemática en México para el contagio de la tuberculosis es la frontera, por lo que se considera un problema de salud binacional”.

"The most problematic area in Mexico for the contagion of tuberculosis is the border, for it is considered an problem of bi-national health."

Explicó que para México el reto es atender adecuada y oportunamente a un promedio de 22 mil pacientes de tuberculosis pulmonar, y 25 mil de tuberculosis extrapulmonar que es la cifra actual del sector salud, y disminuir la mortalidad anual que se ubica en cinco mil casos.

He explained that for Mexico the challenge is to give adequate attention and appropriately to an average of 22 thousand patients of pulmonary tuberculosis and 25 thousand of extrapulmonary tuberculosis which is the actual health sector figure, and to diminsh the annual mortality tha is right around five thousand cases.

In contrast, according to the CDC, TB rates in the US have decreased from 84,304 or 52.6 cases per 100,000 people in 1953 to 14,517 cases or 4.9 per 100,000. Whereas the death rates in the US have dropped from 19.707 or 12.4 cases per 100,000 in 1953 to 704 or 0.2 deaths per 100,000 in 2003.

Even if the reported number from Mexico are correct, they had 47,000 cases of TB and 5000 deaths in a country of 110,000,000 compared to the US, a country of 296,000,000 with 14,517 cases of which over 4,000 were of Hispanic origin.

But, again, I caution that any numbers coming from Mexico are probably greatly underestimated and are undoubtedly much higher in Mexico and amoung the illegals in the US who are not cgoing to seek out medical attention for "a cough".