A tuberculosis outbreak in Long Beach, California led authorities to declare a local public health emergency Thursday.
City Health Officer Dr. Anissa Davis said. declaration The official press release states that the move is to “strengthen the city’s preparedness and response capabilities” against the spread of infection.
Authorities said the outbreak was isolated to a “specific group” and informed the public that the risk of infection was low.
“People at risk for this outbreak have significant barriers to care, including homelessness and housing instability, mental illness, substance use, and serious comorbidities,” the news release continued.
Recently, several individuals associated with a single room occupancy (SRO) hotel in Long Beach were confirmed to have tuberculosis. As of April 29, 14 tuberculosis cases have been reported to be linked to this outbreak. Nine people have been hospitalized at some point due to the illness. And one person died. To protect patient privacy and comply with HIPAA regulations, hotel names will not be published. This property is a private hotel that is not operated or contracted by the City of Long Beach. Those who were staying at the hotel at the time or who may have been infected in other ways have been or will be contacted by the health department.
Officials said about 170 people may have been exposed to the disease, and health ministry officials are currently testing contacts for tuberculosis. Officials believe the number of infected people and contacts will increase as the investigation continues.
“This is surprising,” says Dr. Suman Radhakrishna, director of infectious diseases at Dignity Health. Said KTLA:
Many people come from developing parts of the world where tuberculosis is endemic. And if you don’t have access to proper medical care and you have active tuberculosis, when you cough, you aerosolize the bacteria and all the susceptible people around you begin to get it.
According to the Mayo Clinic, tuberculosis classified It is a serious disease that primarily targets the human lungs. The clinic said the disease “spreads easily in places where people gather or live in crowded environments,” adding that people with weakened immune systems are at higher risk of contracting the disease.
“Tuberculosis can be treated with drugs called antibiotics. However, some bacteria no longer respond well to treatment,” the clinic notes.
The vast majority of people living in the United States don’t. vaccinated According to KCAL, doctors are against tuberculosis as they say the incidence of tuberculosis in the country is low.
“To detect tuberculosis, there are skin and blood tests, and if a person is found to be infected with tuberculosis, they are given four months’ worth of medicine,” the newspaper’s reporter said.
According to Breitbart News, Chicago health officials reported several tuberculosis cases at immigrant shelters in April.
