Jacksonville, FL

Ethiopia ranks eighth among the world’s 22 countries with a high tuberculosis burden, according to USAID. Photo courtesy of the World Health Organization.

---

The Florida Department of Health has issued an alert to our state’s residents and visitors. For those who have questions about the XDR-TB (extensively drug-resistant) case, or for those who may have traveled on one of the flights taken by the individual who is now in quarantine, a 24/7 hotline has been established.

The hotline number is 1-800-4TB-INFO. A lot of information about TB can be found at the DOH Web site.

DOH also says local health departments in the Sunshine State “will give the highest priority to individuals who were on one of the flights with the individuals currently in isolation, and who need evaluation and testing.” DOH encourages anyone on these flights “to seek TB testing and evaluation.”

The DOH alert references “individuals currently in isolation.” I’m assuming that plural noun individuals isn’t a typo and may refer to the passenger’s wife, but that is an assumption on my part.

The World Health Organization says that one in three people in the world is infected with dormant TB germs (i.e. TB bacteria), but people become ill with TB only when the bacteria become active. Information at the WHO Web pages says, “TB can usually be treated with a course of four standard, or first-line, anti-TB drugs. If these drugs are misused or mismanaged, multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) can develop. MDR-TB takes longer to treat with second-line drugs, which are more expensive and have more side-effects. XDR-TB can develop when these second-line drugs are also misused or mismanaged and therefore also become ineffective. Because XDR-TB is resistant to first- and second-line drugs, treatment options are seriously limited. It is therefore vital that TB control is managed properly.”

The New York Times ran a story Wednesday about the Georgia man who exposed fellow passengers on different commercial flights, starting with a flight to Paris from Atlanta on Air France 385 on May 12.

One of Jacksonville’s most well-known hospitals, Shands, is located on a site where in 1922, Duval Hospital on Jefferson Street became a tuberculosis sanitarium.

And one of America’s most colorful gunfighters, Doc Holliday, died of TB.

WHO offers some small comfort to those who may be exposed to this disease. TB is spread when the sick person coughs, or sneezes, or simply talks, because these actions propel TB bacteria into the air. A person needs only to breathe in a small number of these germs to become infected.

However, only a small proportion of people will become infected with TB disease.

For those who’ve been exposed, take DOH advice to heart. Seek testing and evaluation by a healthcare professional.

Word Press, Technorati, Tags, Florida Health Alert, XDR-TB, flights, quarantine