BROCKTON — Dr. Shrein Saini tested 200 immigrants for tuberculosis over the last year. Eight out of 10 had the latent — that's to say, not contagious — version of the disease.
Saini wants to get the word out that latent TB is both easily treatable and nothing to be ashamed about. "It's not something that they did wrong. It's just the fact that they came from a country where it's endemic, just like Lyme disease here," said the Tufts-trained physician. She heads the TB clinic at Brockton Neighborhood Health Center.
Brockton averages about six cases per year of active TB, according to state statistics for 2017 to 2022. Dormant TB can flare up into active, transmissible TB at any time, often brought on by stress or a weakened immune system. That's why Saini wants newcomers to get tested.
"If we can make sure that latent tuberculosis patients are under treatment," Saini said, "I think we can prevent those active cases."
https://archive.ph/Utdyc
BROCKTON — Dr. Shrein Saini tested 200 immigrants for tuberculosis over the last year. Eight out of 10 had the latent — that's to say, not contagious — version of the disease. Saini wants to get the word out that latent TB is both easily treatable and nothing to be ashamed about. "It's not something that they did wrong. It's just the fact that they came from a country where it's endemic, just like Lyme disease here," said the Tufts-trained physician. She heads the TB clinic at Brockton Neighborhood Health Center. Brockton averages about six cases per year of active TB, according to state statistics for 2017 to 2022. Dormant TB can flare up into active, transmissible TB at any time, often brought on by stress or a weakened immune system. That's why Saini wants newcomers to get tested. "If we can make sure that latent tuberculosis patients are under treatment," Saini said, "I think we can prevent those active cases."