EFN

Tuberculosis has been declining in the U.S., according to the World Health Organization, but incidences world-wide of the disease are on the rise.

According to statistics, China and India have had the greatest increase with nearly 50% of all new cases, however areas of Russia report approximately 1 in 4 cases of TB are of the drug-resistance strain. The WHO reports that there were about 440,000 cases of hard-to-treat TB in 2008 and approximately 1 in 3 victims died. Overall for 2008, there were about 9.4 million new cases reported of which 1.8 million died, but experts fear that the drug-resistant strains will eventually displace the easier-to-treat strains.

In the U.S. reports of TB dropped 11.8% in 2009 and only 40% of those cases were people who were born in this country. Incidences of the disease in minorities is significantly higher than in whites. Reports concerning Blacks and Latinos are 8 times higher than their white counterparts and Asians are 26 times more likely to contract the disease. The main reason for the drop in U.S. reported cases is believed to be tighter screening and lower immigration due to the economy.

Drug-resistant strains of TB can cost as much as 25 times more than conventional TB and can take 4 times longer to treat.