|
|
Article: Tuberculosis in infants, children, and adolescents: an update with case studies.
- Article from:
- Pediatric Nursing
- Article date:
- September 1, 1998
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1998 Jannetti Publications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
Tuberculosis (TB) kills more people in the world today than any other infectious disease. The World Health Organization estimates worldwide that 8 million new cases of TB are diagnosed annually and that almost 3 million people die each year of the disease (Lederberg, Shope, & Oaks, 1992).
In the United States, the advent of effective antimicrobial drugs in the 1950s led to a consistent decline in cases of tuberculosis for about 3 decades, but this decline stopped in 1985. Mycobacterium tuberculosis is once again a major public health problem. In fact, the rate of TB increased by almost 20% from 1985 to 1991, and in centers such as New York and Los Angeles, the ...