You might think you are joking ML but most people have no idea how bad the TB problem is in parts of the US. I found this out almost by accident when I had to comply with new rules for visiting hospitals by people who work in the health care industry.
Almost every hospital now requires annual TB testing, which I have now had for the second time, once last year and now this year again.
I asked a nurse I know why they picked TB and not some other old-timey disease like scurvy or The Vapors.
She assured me that it was necessary to be tested before you walk into the hospital where she works (luckily I don't have to) where TB is one of the most common reasons for admission by patients.
I thought she was kidding at first, but she wasn't.
There are now so many undocumented people here from Haiti, Mexico, and who knows where that we are trending toward Third World style problems in health care.
TB And MDR-TB Coming
To America - Illegal (And Legal) Immigrants
Spreading Infection
anutter TB article
A good friend got Whooping Cough last year and really wiped him out - although there is a vaccine for that - many foreigners have never had them ... and it turns out this vaccine is only good for ~ 5 years. A lot of cases of that in Cali last year.
And don't forget that some religious groups, including Scientology, frown on vaccinations as do some well meaning but loony parent groups, like the ones that Jenny McCarthy lent her expertise to.
The combination of more exotic diseases running around without documentation and fewer people getting inoculated means big trouble is ahead.
Sadly, I was being serious. Just in a somewhat joking manner. I work with doctors and hospitals & know about the TB testing - I get to verify that the physicians comply.
We have to get TB tested every year and if you ever get a positive you have to get a chest XR annually for the rest of your career.
Unrelated but reminded me of a friend who was in a horrible car wreck and her arm nearly severed. While one EMT was doing EMT-type things to her & the other shouting about blood type, she came to a bit and said "B positive
good times...good times
Maude_Lynne
100 years from now:
The average life expectancy will be 47 years
The Eiffel what?
The average wage will be 22 cents per hour
95 percent of all births will take place outside of hospitals
Canada's law that prohibits poor people from entering into their country for any reason is adopted elsewhere
Five leading causes of death: 1. Pneumonia and influenza 2. Tuberculosis 3. Diarrhea 4. Heart disease 5. Stroke
The population of Las Vegas will be 30 (it's a desert, man, and water is finite)
Two out of every 10 adults can't read or write
6 percent of all Americans may graduate from high school