Despite the overall decline in tuberculosis, there continues to be a large disparity in incidence between U.S.-born and foreign-born U.S. residents, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported March 20 in advance of World TB Day, which is on March 24.
In 2013, the TB incidence among foreign-born persons was 15.6 cases per 100,000 population, which was 13 times higher than the rate of 1.2 per 100,000 in U.S.-born persons. The CDC defines a U.S.-born person as anyone born in the United States or in a foreign country but having at least one parent who is a U.S. citizen.
The TB rate declined among both groups from 2012 to 2013, but only by 2.1% among foreign-born persons, compared with 8.4% for U.S.-born persons. Racial/ethnic disparities also continue, with Asians having a TB rate 25.9 times higher and blacks having a rate 6.2 times higher than whites, according to the CDC (MMWR 2014;63:229-33).
In a separate statement, the CDC said that updated recommendations for overseas TB screening of immigrants and refugees have saved the United States an estimated $15 million. Since 2007, people suspected of having TB have been required to undergo a sputum culture instead of a less sensitive microscopic sputum smear test so that their infection could be caught and treated prior to arriving in the United States.
