Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1986. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Associated Press - January 7, 1986
Preliminary figures show that 1,910 tuberculosis cases were reported in the city last year, up from 1,670 cases in 1984, Dr. Dixie Snider, a C.D.C. physican said in a telephone interview from the agency in Atlanta.
Dr. Snider said officials at the centers did not initially place a great deal of importance on the increase of 240 cases until a doctor from the city Health Department reported that the rise in tuberculosis cases "appeared to be occurring in parts of the city where the largest number of AIDS cases are reported."
Signs of AIDS Virus
Further testing disclosed that 80 percent of the tuberculosis cases selected for study by city health officials showed signs of the AIDS virus, Dr. Snider said.
"That indicates to us even more that there's an association here that needs to be examined," Dr. Snider said.
Tuberculosis is a highly infectious disease that primarily affects the lungs. Its symptoms include cough, chest pains, fatigue, sweating, and weight loss.
Unlike acquired immune deficiency syndrome, tuberculosis is transmitted through the air and can be treated. AIDS is primarily a sexually transmitted disease, although intravenous drug users also fall prey to the usually fatal disease.
The increase in tuberculosis cases in the city has generally been among black and Hispanic men between the ages of 28 and 44, Dr. Snider said.
Dr. Snider said Federal health officials had noticed that the number of tuberculosis cases nationwide was not dropping as fast as previously.
For instance, 21,801 tuberculosis cases were reported nationwide in 1985 as compared to 22,142 in 1984, Dr. Snider said. "That's a decrease of 341 cases as compared to a drop of about 1,500" from 1983 to 1984, he said.
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