(ConservativeHub.com) – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have revealed that in 2023, they saw the highest number of tuberculosis cases in 10 years.
On March 28, it was announced on the CDC website that from 2022 to 2023, there was an increase of almost 1,300 cases with the total number of cases jumping from 8,320 to 9,615. There was also an increase from 2.5 per 100,000 individuals to 2.9 per 100,000. The people affected by tuberculosis also came from all different age groups. In 2013, the agency data showed around 10,000 infections.
While an increase in the rates had been expected, the rate of increase in 2023 was a bit higher than what had originally been anticipated, according to the agency’s Division of Tuberculosis Elimination director, Dr. Philip LoBue, who spoke to The Associated Press.
The CDC statistics do not provide a count of how many new infections there were in 2023. Instead, the rate shows the number of people who developed symptoms and received diagnoses.
It is estimated that 85 percent of the people who were counted in 2023 had been infected a year or two earlier. These cases, referred to a latent TB, are cases where the bacterium has entered the body and ends up hibernating. According to experts, it is estimated that in the United States, around 13 million people have non-contagious latent TB.
The CDC stated that although in the United States, the number of TB incidents is one of the lowest in the world, the disease continues to be a big cause of mortality and morbidity around the world.
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