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Hawai`i
Highest in TB Cases: Hawai'i ranks No. 1 with
the highest rate of tuberculosis (TB) in the United
States. Hawai'i's tuberculosis rate is more than nine
times greater than the "Healthy People 2010" objective.
According to the Department of Health, the higher TB
rate in Hawai'i is greatly affected by immigration from
countries in the Asia-Pacific region, where prevalence
of the disease is high. In addition, there has also
been an increase in drug resistant TB cases. Nevertheless,
progress is being made. The 2005 rate for both Hawai'i
and the nation is the lowest rates reported in the
past 25 years.
Effects of Immigration: Immigration,
primarily from Asia and the Pacific Islands, has a major
impact of Hawai'i's TB morbidity. Screening by
state TB clinics in 2005 of non-U.S. born clients, found
that over 45 percent had latent TB infections.
In 2005, 81.3
percent of the states' new TB cases were non-U.S. born
individuals. Persons born in the Philippines accounted
for 63.7 percent of the non-U.S. born cases, followed
by Japan (6.6 percent), Vietnam (5.5 percent), and the
Republic of the Marshall Islands (5.5 percent).1
Controlling
TB: Elimination of TB depends on significant
effort and cooperation between public and private health
care providers and agencies at the federal, state, and
local levels. Strategies to combat the disease include
improving laboratories, strengthening surveillance,
improving treatment, and expediting investigation of
close contacts of TB patients.2
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