In 2013, the latest year for which statewide data has been made available, Santa Barbara had six cases of TB for every 100,000 people in the county, trailing just behind San Diego County’s rate (6.5 cases per 100,000) and Los Angeles County (7.1 cases per 100,000), both much larger than Santa Barbara.
Santa Barbara County Health Officer Charity Dean, MD, told Noozhawk nearly 30 cases have been reported in the past few years, roughly 30 percent of which are drug-resistant cases.
“The level of complexity is unprecedented,” said Dr. Dean. “We’ve never seen this before.”
The state granted the county $67,000 in February to be allocated to Santa Barbara’s TB special needs budget. The county has also allocated 12 county outreach nurses and aides and five lab technicians to work on controlling the disease.
The nurses and aides visit TB patients at their homes every day to ensure they are adhering to their medicine regimes and to follow-up with patients after they’ve completed treatment, according to the report.
More articles on TB:
Weill Cornell Medical College receives NIH grant to study tuberculosis epidemic
Providence Memorial pays $263k for TB exposure support
CMS extends TB exposure compliance deadline for Providence Memorial in El Paso
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