World TB Day, which is held on March 24th every year, commemorates the date in 1882 when Dr. Robert Koch announced his discovery of M. tuberculosis, the bacteria that causes tuberculosis. His discovery paved the way for diagnosing and curing tuberculosis.
The goal of this day is to build public awareness of tuberculosis. TB is a serious problem and still remains an epidemic in much of the world today. According to the World Health Organization¹:
- In 2009 there were 9.4 million new TB cases (unchanged from 2008).
- More than two billion people, or approximately one-third of the world's population, are infected with TB.
- TB is contagious and spreads through the air. If not treated, each person with active TB disease infects on average 10 to 15 people each year.
- 1 in 10 people infected with TB will become sick with active TB in their lifetime.
- TB is the leading infectious killer of people who are HIV-infected.
- 5% of all TB cases have multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB).
According to the Centers for Disease Control in the United States, 11,545 TB cases were reported in 2009². Ten to fifteen million people are infected with latent TB infection (LTBI).
- Since 2000, the pace of decline in the annual TB rate has slowed.
- Thirteen states had higher rates of TB in 2009 compared to 2008.
- 59% of all TB cases in the U.S. occurred in foreign-born persons (unchanged from 2008).
- A total of ninety-four multidrug-resistant TB cases were reported in 2009.
According to the Institute of Medicine, "The ability to identify individuals who are truly infected with M. tuberculosis and who are at risk for disease will tremendously simplify the process of tuberculosis elimination in the United States. The search for more effective diagnostic methods has never been more important - particularly in the detection of latent TB.³"
¹World Health Organization 2010 Tuberculosis Facts
²CDC: Reported Tuberculosis in the United States, 2009. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, CDC, Oct. 2010.
³Geiter L., "Ending Neglect: The elimination of Tuberculosis in the United States", 1st ed. Washington DC: National Academy Press 2000.
