TB and foreign born persons

Whilst forrest and doc-gt have covered the changes to TB detection in migrants to the US it is worth having a look at the overall picture.

Last week the CDC published their annual TB data and, for them, it was a bit of a surprise

The 11.4% decrease in reported TB rate in 2009 is the largest single-year decrease ever recorded. 

and they are trying to establish why this is so

CDC and the National Tuberculosis Controllers Association (NTCA) are investigating whether the decrease represents a reduction in disease rate resulting from improved TB control or population demographic shifts, or might be the result of underdiagnosis or underreporting of disease.

Public health initiatives may be paying off

determining the causes of such a large actual decrease in TB cases will be important, as will understanding which specific public health interventions related to the three U.S. priorities of
1) diagnosing and treating patients with TB disease,
2) conducting contact investigations of TB cases, and
3) targeted testing and treatment of latent TB infection are having the greatest impact, so these interventions can be reinforced and replicated.

Fingers crossed No 3 gets a guernsey