Incidents of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, or MDR TB, still comprise a small portion of cases in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas near the Mexican border, but officials have noted an increase.
According to the Herald, in 2005, the county health department handled 101 new cases of TB, a 25-percent increase from 2004.
With MDR-TB, a patient's immune system does not respond to basic antibiotics rifampin and isoniazid.
The costs to the state are staggering. While a standard TB patient costs some $2,800 for about six to nine months of treatment, an MDR-TB treatment runs about $250,000 for two years, said Charles Wallace, manager of the state's infectious disease, intervention and control branch.
One family in the Rio Grande Valley with nine members afflicted with MDR-TB recently cost the state $4 million over a three-year period, including drugs and multiple hospitalizations.
This is one of my many concerns regarding rampant illegal immigration. I think exposure to such diseases particularly is problematic for those who live in states that share a border with Mexico.
We must do something about this. For some, it's literally a matter of life and death.
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