Correction facility TB rates soar; some jails bring back chest roentgenograms
Article Abstract:
The resurgence of tuberculosis (TB) and the wave of recent TB outbreaks in prisons are causing some correctional facilities to return to routine chest x-ray screening. Since 1972, most facilities have abandoned the more expensive x-ray screening for TB in favor of the cheaper purified protein derivative (PPD) tuberculin skin test. PPD tests may be more cost-efficient for the general population with an average of 13.7 TB cases per 100,000 people, but for prisons, where TB incidence ranges from 75 to 500 cases per 100,000 people, PPD tests are ineffective and often not feasible. PPD tests require an initial skin prick and then a follow-up reading two days later. In large, urban facilities, the overcrowding and poor air circulation aid the spread of TB while the rapid turnover of inmates, many of them already released or transferred to another facility, makes the multi-step PPD test impractical. Halting the TB epidemic may mandate chest x-ray screening in correctional facilities.
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 1992
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Some experts suggest the nation's 'War on Drugs' is helping tuberculosis stage a deadly comeback
Article Abstract:
The "War on Drugs" may have fostered the current tuberculosis (TB) epidemic. Stricter drug laws have resulted in more people being jailed than ever before. Since the early 1980's and the "war on drugs," overall arrests have increased by 28%, but arrests for drug-related crimes have gone up 126%. The near doubling in prison population has taxed correction facilities ability to house and care for prisoners. Overcrowding and inadequate ventilation aid the spread of TB among inmates and corrections officers, who then return to their families and the larger community. There have been 11 prison outbreaks of TB since December 1990, killing 13 inmates and one officer. Jailing drug abusers, already at high risk for HIV infection and TB, in overcrowded facilities and then releasing them back into the community may do little to deter future drug use while posing an enormous threat to public health.
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 1992
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Critics Denounce Staffing Jails and Prisons With Physicians Convicted of Misconduct. (Medical News & Perspectives)
Article Abstract:
The deaths of several inmates has highlighted the fact that many correctional facilities hire physicians who have records of professional misconduct. Some have lost their license to practice in more than one state. Prison administrators say they desparately need physicians to treat an increasingly sick prison population. But others say prisoners deserve to be cared for by qualified professionals just as people in the community are. Many prisoners are vulnerable and should not be place in the care of physicians who have a history of abusing patients.
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 1998
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