The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that the number of tuberculosis cases in the United States in 2023 will be the highest in 10 years.
“Overall, the number of infections increased from 8,320 in 2022 to 9,615 in 2023, an increase of 1,295,” the CDC said on its website Thursday.
“The rate also increased from 2.5 per 100,000 people in 2022 to 2.9 per 100,000 in 2023,” the report added, noting that numbers were rising across all age groups. According to data from the agency, nearly 10,000 people were infected in 2013.
CDC officials had expected the number of tuberculosis cases to increase, but the number of tuberculosis cases in 2023 was “slightly higher than expected,” Dr. Philip Robeau, director of the CDC’s Division of Tuberculosis Elimination, told The Associated Press.
A woman came home with kidney damage after going to a hair salon.
A doctor looks at an x-ray of a patient with tuberculosis. (Spencer Pratt/Getty Images)
The CDC’s new statistics count the number of people who develop a cough and other symptoms and are diagnosed in 2023, rather than the number of new infections.
An estimated 85% of people counted in 2023 were infected at least one to two years ago and have so-called latent tuberculosis, where the bacteria enters the body and hibernates in the lungs and other parts of the body. Ta. Experts estimate that as many as 13 million Americans have latent tuberculosis, which is not contagious.
“Although the United States has the lowest incidence of tuberculosis in the world and the risk to most U.S. residents is minimal, tuberculosis continues to cause significant morbidity and mortality worldwide,” the CDC said. He calls tuberculosis “one of the world’s leading infectious diseases and causes of death.” ”
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This 2006 electron microscopy image provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which causes the disease tuberculosis. (Janice Carr/CDC/AP)
Tuberculosis is caused by a bacterium called Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which typically targets the lungs but can also attack other parts of the body, including the kidneys, spine and brain, according to the CDC.
Symptoms of tuberculosis disease of the lungs include chest pain and a persistent cough that may be bloody.
Other symptoms include weakness or fatigue, weight loss, fever, and loss of appetite.
The number of infected people decreased sharply at the beginning of the new coronavirus pandemic, but has since been on the rise.
This 1966 photomicrograph provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The number of tuberculosis cases in the United States in 2023 is the highest in a decade, according to a report released Thursday, March 28 by the CDC. (Elizabeth S. Minjoli/CDC/AP)
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The CDC says, “The increase in U.S. cases following this pandemic will continue to engage communities with high rates of tuberculosis and their health care providers in tuberculosis elimination efforts, and will help the public implement critical disease control and prevention strategies.” “This highlights the importance of strengthening the capacity of sanitation programs.” Said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
