Tuesday, January 03, 2006

The CDC May Have To Step In regarding Illegal Immigration


"Certain diseases that we thought we had vanquished years ago are coming back, and other diseases that we've never seen or rarely seen in America, because they've always been the diseases of poverty and the third world, are coming in now," said Madeleine Pelner Cosman, author of a report in the spring issue of the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons [link] from a June 9 article from WorldNetDaily.


(Expanding on a story from Daniel's political musings)
Cosman is particularly concerned with increases in multiple drug-resistant tuberculosis, chagas disease, dengue fever, polio, hepatitis A, B, and C, she told Lou Dobbs on CNN June 9th.

Cosman said 84 hospitals in California have been forced to close because of the high cost of treating illegal aliens with only 50 percent of all treatments reimbursed by government.

"We have a terrible, absolutely vicious, law called EMTALA: the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, which is really the culprit that requires every emergency room, and every physician of an emergency room, to treat illegal aliens for free," she said.

in a related article from WorldNetDaily

Leprosy, [caused by bacteria or germs called Mycobacterium leprae. It is an infection that affects the skin and the nerves of the hands and feet and can also cause problems in the eyes and nose] is a contagious skin disease in is now making its mark in the United States

Rep. J.D. Hayworth, R-Ariz., told the Business Journal of Phoenix. "For example, in 40 years, only 900 persons were afflicted by leprosy in the U.S.; in the past three years, more than 7,000 cases have been presented."
96 cases reported 2002, 763, 917 cases detected worldwide source = CDC
"While legal immigrants must undergo health screening prior to entering the U.S., illegal immigrants far more likely to be carrying contagious diseases are crawling under that safeguard and going undetected until they infect extraordinary numbers of American residents."

2 comments:

Mr. Viddy said...

The numbers you list for leprosy are several years old and compared to recent numbers it shows that new cases of leprosy have dropped off considerably. For example, last year it was reported 678,758 new cases, a difference of over 85,000. Additionally, of the top 10 countries with the most reported cases only Brazil is even remotely close enough to contribute illegal immigrants close enough to the U.S. to sneak in. The information I have provided can be verified through the World Health Organization and the American Leprosy Missions, both of which have websites.

Regarding the 84 hospitals that closed specifically due to costs relating to the treatment of illegals, please follow up with some verifiable data on that one.

For the record, I agree with comment you have posted on your site by Lars Larson, I am not against immigration, I am against illegal immigration but the kind of scare stories you and Daniel post cause people to make decisions based on ignorance, not facts.

Robin said...

Thanks. I try to with the time allowed to do research before I post something and I will admit that when I was researching this story on leprosy, I was very disappointed that the CDC did not have current numbers. You also notice that when I make a claim like this, that I do cite my sources.

In fact, I always cite my sources whenever I comment on an article. As far as scaring someone, that is not my intent.
My goal is to bring up issues for discussion on all sides of the topic.

Although the subject of illegal immigration can seem a one-sided at times, the facts remain that there are people through their ignorance and for fear of not being "politically correct" refused to look at the big picture and that is why this needs to remain in the forefront.

On the same token, I would love it if somebody that made the trek across the border would post comments about their experience and what their life was like and why they felt it was necessary to take such a dangerous journey to come here.

What is it that we as the United States can do to help Mexico. Apparently there's a huge problem because millions of people leave the country every year, and if there is something that we can do as a country to help, then we should.

"... but the kind of scare stories you and Daniel post cause people to make decisions based on ignorance, not facts."
on this blog, if I do make a mistake [it happens], and you feel that it is ignorance on my part or anybody's for that matter, than I encourage you to post a comment [like you did today] to bring it to our attention and set us straight.

Thank you