Our history with TB
Breathe California has been fighting Tuberculosis for over a hundred years! As the Association for the Study and Prevention of Tuberculosis in San Francisco (1908) and Santa Clara County (1911) our independent, local nonprofit organizations’ original mission was to fight the TB epidemic. By the 1930s, through education, advocacy, and research, our work had significantly helped reduce local TB rates by 60% – before the advent of antibiotics or x-rays!
World TB Day – March 24, 2022
While Breathe California has put on press conferences, participated in panels, and walked in marches to commemorate World TB Day in the past, continuing concerns about COVID-19 have made us change our tack this year.
Please join the Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations and the Coalition for a TB-free California for a World TB Day webinar. Learn about the impact of TB on California and disproportionately affected communities and the recently updated California TB Elimination Plan. Hear stories from TB survivors and organizations on the frontlines of addressing the epidemic. Find out how you can get involved in moving California toward TB elimination!
To receive a calendar invite, please email Ryan Clary, ryantbfree@gmail.com.
Webinar topics:
- Story from a TB survivor
- 2021 California TB data
- California’s TB Elimination Plan
- TB Elimination Alliance (TEA) update
- Report from the frontlines: TEA mini-grant recipient
- Coalition for a TB-free California: 2022 priorities
TB Facts – Did you know?
- Tuberculosis (TB) is the ninth leading cause of death worldwide.
- 10 million to 15 million people in the United States are infected with Tuberculosis (have LTBI) which can progress to active TB without diagnosis and treatment.
- 2 million Californians – nearly 6% of the population – have LTBI. Approximately 1.8 million were born outside the U.S., of whom only 20% are aware of their infection and only 12% have been treated.
- A total of 9,105 TB cases (a rate of 2.8 cases per 100,000 persons) were reported in the United States in 2017.
- More than 200 persons age 80 or older were diagnosed with TB in California 2017.
- TB IS CURABLE!!
- In California from 2014–2016, 625 persons (10% of TB cases) died with TB. Of persons who died with TB, 19% died before receiving TB treatment.
More about tuberculosis
Tuberculosis is an airborne contagious disease caused by a strain of bacteria (Mycobacterium tuberculosis) and primarily affects the lungs. When a person with infectious TB spits, coughs, sneezes, speaks, or even sings, the disease spreads easily through the air in microscopic droplets. A skin or blood test will indicate TB infection. Symptoms progress slowly, making it very difficult to diagnose at early stages.
Tuberculosis manifests in two manners: latent TB infection and TB disease. People with latent TB (LTBI) are infected, but feel well, show no symptoms, and cannot transmit the disease to others. Without a TB diagnosis and effective proper treatment with antibiotics over a period of months, 5-10% of these cases will eventually develop TB disease, 50% within the first few years of initial infection. People with TB disease are considered infectious and may spread the disease to others. Symptoms may include a persistent cough, chest pain, coughing up blood, weight loss, lack of appetite, chills, fever, and night sweats. Suggested treatment includes a long course of several antibiotics.
Though TB rates have been greatly reduced, it continues to pose a threat today, especially with the advent of multiple drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). TB is one of the top 10 causes of death worldwide. In 2015, California had the highest number of TB cases in the United States. Anyone can become infected with TB, but some people are more at risk than others, such as those living in crowded conditions, those who work with people who have TB, and those whose immune systems are compromised. For example, the risk of developing tuberculosis is over 30 times higher in people who have HIV. TB is a leading infectious killer of people living with HIV/AIDS, causing over 50 percent of AIDS deaths in some sub-Saharan African countries.