Tuberculosis Cases Can Go Undetected In Prisons, Increasing Likelihood Of Community Spread, Study Says

HealthDay (4/8, Thompson) reports a study found that most modern-day tuberculosis cases “happen in prisons, where inmates in close quarters are more likely to pass the disease between them.” But during the COVID-19 pandemic, “TB diagnoses fell dramatically in prisons – not because there weren’t new cases, but because officials weren’t detecting them, researchers argue.” Researchers said, “When countries are unable to detect tuberculosis in high-risk populations – such as people who are incarcerated – it increases the risk of transmission, both within prisons and to the broader community, when people are released from prison.” The study was published in The Lancet Public Health.