Class Warfare... Do You See How You, And Your Loved Ones (3,000 Now), Are Infected ???

[WillyT]

Florida accused of concealing worst tuberculosis outbreak in 20 years
By Muriel Kane - RawStory
Sunday, July 8, 2012 18:57 EDT



<snip>

The state of Florida has been struggling for months with what the Centers for Disease Control describe as the worst tuberculosis outbreak in the United States in twenty years. Although a CDC report went out to state health officials in April encouraging them to take concerted action, the warning went largely unnoticed and nothing has been done. The public did not even learn of the outbreak until June, after a man with an active case of TB was spotted in a Jacksonville soup kitchen.

The Palm Beach Post has managed to obtain records on the outbreak and the CDC report, though only after weeks of repeated requests. These documents should have been freely available under Florida’s Sunshine Law.

According to the Post, the coverup began as early as last February, “when Duval County Health Department officials felt so overwhelmed by the sudden spike in tuberculosis that they asked the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to become involved. Believing the outbreak affected only their underclass, the health officials made a conscious decision not to not tell the public, repeating a decision they had made in 2008, when the same strain had appeared in an assisted living home for people with schizophrenia.”

That decision now appears to have gone terribly awry, partly because the disease appears to have already spread into the general population but also because just nine days before the CDC warning was issued, Florida Governor Rick Scott had signed a bill downsizing the state’s Department of Health and closing the A.G. Holley State Hospital that had treated the most difficult tuberculosis cases for over 60 years.

<snip>

More: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/07/08/florida-accused-of-concealing-worst-tuberculosis-outbreak-in-20-years/

[DontTreadOnMe]

1. Who cares about the "little people"?

Paging Rick Scott, paging Rick Scott.

[patrice]

2. Antiobiotic resistant TB became as strong as it is because so much health legislation was blocked by

the "Pro-Life" vote. Domestic, military, and foreign aid health care bills that bundled a wide variety of services for funding, including funds to fight Antibiotic Resistant TB, were defeated by the "Right to Life" lobby, because they also frequently included funding for family planning and sex education. The most innocuous, even least abortion related, family planning policies and funding were used as an opportunity for those god-damned "Right to Life"ers to flex their political muscle and, thus, to feather their career$$$$.

That's how the fight against Antibiotic Resistant TB was LOST and also why this is such a big deal now, because the TB infectious strain is stronger than ever and there is less public health process and mechanisms to deal with it. All in the name of "Pro-Life" and small government.

[WillyT]

3. Kick !!!

[WillyT]

4. And... How Does Tourism In Florida Become "Infected" By Their Lack Of Responsibility ???

You, you and your girl, you and your friends, you and your family... wanna go to Florida right now???

[slipslidingaway]

6. This story has me thinking ...

as someone whose husband still has an immature immune system after a bone marrow transplant and we drove through there recently on a business trip. Damn them

[Blue_Tires]

13. Haven't governors been recalled and prosecuted for less than this??

[RockaFowler]

17. I wish we could do it here

No provisions in our constitution

Maybe someone can indict him in the courts, though. I would love that.

[mahina]

5. And it's not just like you take the meds and are a-ok.

My friend was always slim and fit, got exposed to TB (didn't even have it herself) and had to take the full course of meds, and inflated like a basketball. She struggles with her weight and looks like she will always be heavy now.

Better than the alternative but these meds stomp all over our livers.

Damn their eyes for this incompetence and dishonesty.

[ladym55]

7. Believing the outbreak affected only their underclass, the health officials made a conscious

decision not to not tell the public

Yeah, if it only affects POOR people, why care???

[Fumesucker]

8. Yeah, I noticed that too...

Despicable..

[bananas]

9. Wasn't Homeland Security supposed to watch for disease outbreaks? nt

[Hassin Bin Sober]

11. Yes. That's what they are looking for when they rifle through your underwear at the airport.

[bananas]

15. No, I mean like the rabbit flu at the DC protests - tularemia

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1819039

http://upload.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1827497

[Hassin Bin Sober]

19. Priorities priorities. There are little old ladies in wheelchairs that need shaking down.

[Romulox]

10. Open borders means no health requirements for entry! nt

[GoneOffShore]

12. So the CDC informed Florida but not anyone else?

Sounds like the CDC is culpable here as well.

[Tsiyu]

14. This

will be the final downfall of the 1% - if they get their way.

They feel so invincible, with all their hoarded cash. But infectious disease laughs at your money.

Right before it kills you.

[justabob]

16. it is stunning

These presumably educated people not understanding what an epidemic means for them and the people in their lives. They dismissed it as impacting only the 'underclass'. One guy on one subway/airplane/bus line can spread whatever disease to hundreds of other people without even trying. Disease doesn't give a damn if you are black or white or rich or poor or what zip code you live in. (The fact that the rich folks have access to doctors doesn't even matter much with particularly virulent strains either.)

[Ganja Ninja]

18. Rick Scott for VP!

He and Romney belong together and we need to be rid of him here in Florida.

[WillyT]

20. Kick !!!

[Junkdrawer]

21. Hey! Let's take the kids to Orlando...

Or not.