Is there a perfect storm brewing along our nation’s southern border? Let’s take a look at the numbers in El Paso, Texas where I recently visited: •There are 27 million crossings per year alone at the El Paso Point of Entry (POE) •Cuts to federal funding including a 50% reduction in the Early Warning Infectious Disease Program as well as 12.5% cuts to critical preparedness and response funding; • Texas is second in the nation for number of tuberculosis cases,…

PHARR — Laura knows what comfort feels like: Before leaving Reynosa, Mexico, for Texas a few years ago, she lived with her in-laws in a house with bedrooms and flushing toilets, with electricity and a leak-free roof. Now, the 23-year-old — since deserted by her husband — pays $187 a month to live in a dirt-floored shack that is part broken-down motor home, part splintered plywood shed. She bathes her five runny-nosed, half-clothed children, all under 10, with water siphoned…

In the 3-D model on the computer screen, the AIDS virus resembles a deformed head of broccoli, its clustered surface constantly shifting. Researchers at the National Institutes of Health’s Vaccine Research Center attribute moral characteristics to their enemy; it is “deceptive” and “diabolical.” The virus is covered in a cloak of sugars that mimic natural proteins, making it invisible to the immune system. Its true nature is only revealed to the body when the virus needs to get into a…

Tijuana — A young woman walked into Tijuana’s tuberculosis clinic with a little plastic jar in her hand containing her saliva sample. She dropped it off at the front desk, and left. She didn’t need to see Dr. Rafael Laniado this time, because she had been taking her meds and her tuberculosis had been under control for months. “When you visit this clinic, I can tell you if you have tuberculosis within three weeks,” said Laniado, the chief neumologist at…

WASHINGTON (AP) — A food pyramid just for the under-2 set? Contrary to popular belief, children don’t usually outgrow their baby fat – and a new report urges steps to help prevent babies, toddlers and preschoolers from getting too pudgy too soon. That’s a growing problem: Already, one in five preschoolers – 2- to 5-year-olds – is overweight or obese. Topping the list of proposed changes: better guidelines to help parents and caregivers know just how much toddlers should eat…

Officials in Hong Kong are urging the public to be vigilant and take precautions against scarlet fever as they reported a second suspected death from the disease involving a 5-year-old boy on Tuesday, and the latest figures show 466 cases have so far been reported to the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health this year. The boy started showing symptoms of fever on 15 June and was admitted to Princess Margaret Hospital on June 19 when…

In its constant effort to get us to eat a healthier diet, the government recently served up a new food guide icon called MyPlate. The colorful segmented dinner plate, which is based on the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, offers a heaping helping of simplicity, an ample side order of practicality and a light dollop of details. MyPlate replaces the food pyramid graphic that nutritionists found cumbersome and confusing. The new icon is being lauded as serving a better “how…

Ending coverage for 250,000 won’t threaten U.S. funds Arizona doesn’t need federal approval to eliminate 250,000 people from its Medicaid rolls in order to continue to receive federal matching dollars, health officials said Tuesday. Lawmakers had sought to eliminate coverage for low-income Arizonans to help close a huge budget shortfall, but recently passed federal health reform mandates that states maintain their level of coverage. In a letter to Brewer today, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said the…

The diagnosis of tuberculosis in a nursing student prompted a briefing by health officials Tuesday to 174 students, faculty and staff members at the University of Texas Health Science Center who might have been exposed. The student, who isn’t being identified, is undergoing treatment, according to a university statement. Staff of the Metropolitan Health District conducted the briefing and are trying to determine which of those 174 might be at risk and should be tested. It wasn’t known if any…

EDINBURG — Through brick wall after brick wall, Gloria Salinas and her staff kept searching for Patient Zero. In cracking a tuberculosis outbreak that most health professionals thought impossible to solve, Salinas proved that a diagnostic practice previously confined to the laboratory setting could be applied in the time-intensive investigations that are her clinic’s forte. Salinas, the TB program manager for the Hidalgo County Health and Human Services Department, has spent the last 14 years handling TB prevention and treatment…