Sacramento Bee: MCN Publishes Op-Ed on TB Treatment in US Migrant Population

We were thrilled to see the Sacramento Bee publish our piece about Tuberculosis, in honor of World TB Day, which was on Tuesday. Here’s a quote from the piece:

“Many doctors who see migrants are conflicted about starting treatment for a patient who may move prior to completion, recognizing that an incomplete treatment may worsen drug resistance and allow the patient’s TB to reactivate. Many newly diagnosed patients who need to move due to work or family concerns will have difficulty completing treatment, and doctors are often unequipped to provide continuity of care. It is imperative that we have resources to support those mobile patients in completing treatment.”

We then profiled Health Network and the work we’re doing -- but we recognize that more needs to be done, as is evidenced by the following list of TB Facts.

• 9 million new cases of TB in 2013.
• 1.5 million deaths due to TB in 2013.
• 480,000 new cases of multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB).
• More than 3 million women develop TB each year and more than 500,000 will die of TB making TB the leading cause of death in women of reproductive age.
• 550,000 children developed TB in 2013 with 80,000 deaths.
• 1.1 million patients living with HIV developed TB in 2013 – TB/HIV co-infection rates are as high as 70% in some countries.

*TB Facts Source: http://www.who.int/tb/publications/global_report/en/

As a clinician, how do you handle TB treatment for a mobile patient? Let us know. Keep up the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.