TB's Return

IN PART BECAUSE OF THE EMERGENCE OF AIDS, IN PART because of breakdowns in public health services, the incidence of tuberculosis has jumped 25% since 1984, when 22,000 cases were documented in the U.S. Physicians from the American Lung Association and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now recommend a series of more aggressive countermeasures to prevent a general outbreak of TB, some new strains of which are particularly virulent.

At the top of the recommended list is more extensive screening for TB infection among high-risk groups, including children, hospital patients and the homeless. Because people with weakened immune systems are particularly vulnerable to TB, the doctors also advise that anyone who lives in close + contact with a TB patient should also be screened for AIDS-spawning HIV. For those tubercular patients who refuse treatment, thereby needlessly endangering their fellow citizens, the health experts recommend mandatory quarantine as a last resort.