TB's Resurgence: A Wake-Up Call

0:00It's March 29, I'm Cory with the story. This is Dallas News today, driven by AI, tuberculosis, that old school killer called the White Plague is making a comeback in the U.S. after the pandemic. Health officials report over 10,600 cases in 2024, the highest since 2013. That's about three people per 100,000 getting hit. Cases dropped in 2020 because COVID messed up screenings and testing, but they've climbed every year since. Researchers point to a rebound from untreated latent infections plus more travel and migration from high-risk spots overseas. Experts like those at Crane University say it's no surprise, with public health programs still understaffed from the chaos. The impact, strained clinics, and a reminder that TB spreads through coughs and sneezes, hitting lungs mostly, but sometimes other organs too. Symptoms sneak up like a persisting cough, night sweats, fatigue, and weight loss, Izzy to shrug off as a cold.

1:00High-risk folks include diabetics, smokers, heavy drinkers, kids, and the malnourished, and active cases can get serious fast. Treating it means daily antibiotics for four to six months, and catching latent TB early stops a cold before it spreads. Screening high-risk groups is key to knocking this trend back, so communities stay safe moving