Tuberculosis Among Immigrants and Refugees

Abstract

FOR MORE than a decade, the largest absolute numbers of cases of tuberculosis (TB) among foreign-born individuals in the United States have been reported by the state of California. In California, the number and percentage of reported cases of TB among foreign-born individuals increased from 2046 (58.5% of all cases reported in California) in 1985 to 3086 (66.2% of all cases reported in California) in 1995. Seventy-one percent of these individuals were from 4 countries: Mexico (31.7%), the Philippines (19.9%), Vietnam (14.7%), and China (4.8%). San Francisco, Calif, is the resettlement site of a large, diverse, foreign-born population. The number and proportion of foreign-born individuals with TB in San Francisco have been high for the last 10 years, ranging from 214 cases in 1985 (70.9%) to 171 cases in 1995 (63.3%). One third of these foreign-born individuals were in the United States less than 1 year before TB was diagnosed; they likely had TB when they entered the country or developed it shortly thereafter.