Suppose I told you that 700 infants in the border town of El Paso, Texas, which has been “stocked” with illegal aliens over the past two years, have been exposed to tuberculosis – a horrible disease which was – until recently – virtually eradicated in the United States, but which is no stranger at all to parts of Central America – including Guatemala and Honduras, where a large percentage of the illegal aliens flooding into our country are coming from.
Would you put those facts together? Would you at least be consider the possibility that they are connected?
Well, it happened. And here is the entire report on it from CBS News – Dallas/Fort Worth & The Associated Press. Read it and weep for the triumph of political correctness over journalism:
ELPASO, Texas (CBSDFW.COM/AP) – Morethan 700 infants at an El Paso hospital have been exposed totuberculosis by an employee infected with the disease, according topublic health officials.
Thecity\’s Department of Public Health says the infants along withabout 40 employees at Providence Memorial Hospital were exposed.
Officialssay they were exposed from September 2013 to August. The employeeworked in the hospital\’s nursery. Officials said employment andmedical records were reviewed to determine which infants andemployees were exposed.
Dr.Hector Ocaranza, the health authority for El Paso County, says thehospital workers have been tested and officials are waiting onresults. Letters were sent Thursday to the parents of the infantsdirecting them to undergo screenings.
Ocaranzasays TB is treatable and the exposure doesn\’t represent a publichealth threat.
TheCDC warns that tuberculosis, if not treated properly, can be fatal.
TheEl Paso Department of Public Health setupa website to provide updated information to the community,including a detailed calendar of potential exposure dates.
No mention at all of any possible connection between a sudden appearance of tuberculosis and the influx of these illegal aliens.
No mention at all of how many illegal aliens were specifically shipped (for lack of a better word) to El Paso, as they have been shipped to cities around the country, while most of our media desperately find rationales to look the other way and pretend this is not happening.
But what we do have is a benignly worded reassurance that “TB is treatable and the exposure doesn\’t represent a public heath threat”. If one of those infants were yours, or if you were one of the 40 exposed employees, would that be reassuring to you?
FYI: here, straight from the Center for Disease Control (CDC), are the treatment options so gently touched on above:
Choosingthe Most Effective Regimen
Treatmentof LTBI should be initiated after the possibility of TB disease hasbeen excluded. Persons suspected of having TB disease should receivethe recommended multidrug regimen for treatment of disease until thediagnosis is confirmed or ruled out.
Consultationwith a TB expert is advised if the known source of TB infection hasdrug-resistant TB.
Table2. Latent TB Infection Treatment Regimens
Drugs
Duration
Interval
Minimum doses
Isoniazid
9 months
Daily
270
Twice weekly*
76
Isoniazid
6 months
Daily
180
Twice weekly*
52
Isoniazid and Rifapentine
3 months
Once weekly*
12
Rifampin
4 months
Daily
120
*UseDirectly Observed Therapy (DOT)
Note:Due to the reports of severe liver injury and deaths, CDC recommendsthat the combination of rifampin (RIF) and pyrazinamide (PZA) shouldgenerally not be offered for the treatment of latent TB infection.
Would that have been worth mentioning in this article – even in passing? Or is it acceptable journalism to tell readers that “TB is treatable”, without mentioning the seriousness and extent of the treatment?
Looking at that, do you think CBS and the Associated Press reported this story properly? If you had an infant in that hospital, would you think you received meaningful information about what he/she was exposed to? Or would you think this article blatantly covered that information up?
Every time I think that media commitment to protecting the Obama administration could not get lower, I am proven wrong.
