Experts say Toronto unprepared for TB
Published: Feb. 24, 2008 at 12:39 PM
TORONTO, Feb. 24 (UPI) -- Health experts warn there could be an outbreak of tuberculosis in Toronto, which reportedly lacks a centralized system of TB clinics.
The (Toronto) Star reported Sunday that about 400 of Canada's 1,600 active tuberculosis cases are in Toronto, a figure experts expect to rise given the city's growing immigrant community.
Critics say despite the growing risk of an outbreak, tuberculosis patients in the province are often seen by physicians with little experience in treating the disease, the newspaper reported.
"Many developing countries are doing a better job of managing TB than we do," said Dr. Michael Gardam, chief of infection control at the University Health Network and head of the tuberculosis clinic at Toronto Western Hospital.
Tuberculosis is an infectious disease spread person to person when an infected person coughs or sneezes and spreads bacteria into the air. More than one-third of the world's population is infected with the TB bacteria. About 10 percent of those go on to develop full-blown tuberculosis, it was reported.
"Toronto reflects the world, and the world is having an epidemic of TB," Gardam said. "If the world has a problem, then we have a problem."
The (Toronto) Star reported Sunday that about 400 of Canada's 1,600 active tuberculosis cases are in Toronto, a figure experts expect to rise given the city's growing immigrant community.
Critics say despite the growing risk of an outbreak, tuberculosis patients in the province are often seen by physicians with little experience in treating the disease, the newspaper reported.
"Many developing countries are doing a better job of managing TB than we do," said Dr. Michael Gardam, chief of infection control at the University Health Network and head of the tuberculosis clinic at Toronto Western Hospital.
Tuberculosis is an infectious disease spread person to person when an infected person coughs or sneezes and spreads bacteria into the air. More than one-third of the world's population is infected with the TB bacteria. About 10 percent of those go on to develop full-blown tuberculosis, it was reported.
"Toronto reflects the world, and the world is having an epidemic of TB," Gardam said. "If the world has a problem, then we have a problem."
© 2008 United Press International. All Rights Reserved.
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This material may not be reproduced, redistributed, or manipulated in any form.
In this image from NASA's Atmospheric Infrared Sounder instrument on NASA's Aqua spacecraft, Cyclone Nargis is pictured when it was a Category one hurricane located 370 miles west of Yangon, Myanmar on May 1, 2008. Tropical Cyclone Nargis flooded the region on May 4, 2008. The death toll from the cyclone and its aftermath is feared to hit or exceed 100,000 lives. (UPI Photo/NASA/MODIS Rapid Response Team)
NASA satellite images show Tropical Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar
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