Data gathered from Hawaii in a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tuberculosis research program will help shape TB science and policy for the next 10 years, says the chief local investigator. Local tuberculosis data
helps shape future studyBy Helen Altonn
haltonn@starbulletin.comHawaii is one of 22 sites in the United States and Canada participating in a CDC Epidemiologic Studies consortium.
"It's an exciting project and rare for Hawaii to be included in something like this," said Dr. Jessie Wing, a CDC medical officer who heads the state Health Department's TB Control Program.
The Hawaii program's 10-year CDC contract amounts to $1.2 million, which will increase based on local research projects.
Meanwhile, health officials are dealing with an increasing number of drug-resistant tuberculosis cases here, up from 12 cases in 2001 to 22 last year, while the overall TB rate has stabilized.
Wing plans to attend a meeting of consortium participants Wednesday to Friday in Chicago to discuss projects in the CDC research effort. Some projects will start later this year at 20 sites in the United States and two in Canada, she said. One will be on TB in foreign-born people and another on latent tuberculosis.
Other research priorities include investigation of TB contacts, which the Hawaii team has done under another grant, and new diagnostic methods. One is the one-stop Quaniferon blood test, a possible alternative to traditional TB skin tests.
Wing said it's rare for CDC to have a medical officer in the field for TB. She is working with 60 state employees to find ways to improve control of the disease, going after grants to increase the program.
She applied last year to include Hawaii as a site in the "very competitive" consortium of academic institutions and state and county health departments to answer TB questions.
Wing said the CDC has asked for specimens from multi-drug-resistant TB cases, which are difficult to treat.
Fortunately, she said, Hawaii's drug-resistant cases so far have included only one multi-drug-resistant case, defined as a case resistant to primary treatment drugs. The patient, a middle-aged man, is in a clinic under prolonged treatment, Wing said.
The TB Control Program is operating from two sites, the Dillingham Plaza in Kalihi and Leahi Hospital, while its Lanakila Health Center clinic is being renovated. Work is expected to be completed in late May.
State Health Department
Centers for Disease Control