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The Economic Impact of Tuberculosis in Hospitals in New York City: A Preliminary Analysis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2021

Extract

There is a nationwide resurgence of tuberculosis (TB) in the country’s urban centers; New York City stands at the forefront of this resurgence. The root causes are increased homelessness, drug addiction and poverty, all symbols of deteriorating social and economic conditions in the city. The inadequate level of public health resources devoted to TB has also contributed to its spread. Still, even with these factors, it is questionable whether the escalating number of TB cases in this country would have occurred without the reservoir of immunosuppressed persons, who are less resistant to the disease, created by the AIDS epidemic. The fear and urgency of this public health crisis, which has been emerging since the beginning of the last decade, are fueled by the rise of TB strains resistant to the first-line drugs and by the disease’s contagiousness.

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Article
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of Law, Medicine and Ethics 1993

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References

This study was supported by the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the Health Services Improvement Fund. We gratefully acknowledge computer programming support from Jiming Chen and the helpful comments of Barry Bloom, Pamela McMaster, Phyllis Lantos, Fran R. Lawffer and Karyn Feiden who reviewed earlier versions of this manuscript. Any errors are the sole responsibility of the authors.Google Scholar
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