Science / Medicine : TB Rates Climb to Record in ’90

Tuberculosis rates apparently made a record climb in 1990, with the largest nationwide increase since national reporting on the disease began, the American Lung Assn. said last week.

“We’re seeing large increases in TB in many cities and states,” said ALA President Dr. John Allen.

The infectious lung disease, long associated with 19th-Century poverty and considered nearly vanquished in recent decades, has been on the rise since 1985, and preliminary reports show its greatest increase in 1990.

TB incidence through November, 1990, increased by 8% and appeared headed for a 10% increase for the year by the end of December, the ALA said, citing new figures from the federal Centers for Disease Control. The CDC said that 20,792 cases had been reported for 1990 by Nov. 24, compared to 19,205 by the same time in 1989.

Experts blame much of the rise on the immune depressing effects of the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, which is linked to AIDS. TB increases were especially marked among blacks and Latinos, young adults and children under age 5, Allen said.