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Tuberculosis in the Asian Culture

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Tuberculosis in the Asian Culture
Tuberculosis is a bacterial infection called Mycobacterium Tuberculosis is one of the most fatal diseases affecting approximately 9 million people around the world with approximately 1.5 million deaths related to TB. In 2011 10,521 new tuberculosis cases had been reported in the United States that is approximately 6% lower than in 2010 (Basic TB Facts, 2012). Tuberculosis is more prevalent in immigrant Asians born out-side of the United States by 29.9%. Asians have the highest ratio of TB infected persons at a rate of 22.4 people per 100,000 the highest rate for any ethnic group (Medscape News Today, 2012). Generally, foreign born immigrants with TB did not have his or her TB diagnosed after having been in the United States for approximately two years, implying that he or she had dormant TB before coming to the United States.
Asian immigrants are a culturally diverse group. The Asian culture and lifestyle have an impact to his or her health this could be because Asians eat a vegetarian-based diet and lack of vitamin B12 and iron, and possible language barriers make it difficult for patients to communicate properly with his or her physician. Asians that eat a mixed diet were less likely to contact TB (P.J. Finch, 1991). In China it is inappropriate to discuss personal illness with others, consequently a person infected with TB would be less likely to tell someone he or she are infected and not letting the other person have the option of possibly protecting oneself. Asians traditionally use herbs and small pills to treat an illness usually taken for a short amount of time (P.J. Finch, 1991) and the treatment for TB consists of large pills taken for a long duration of time (6-12 months) and if the medication is not taken correctly and for the entire length of time the disease will come back because of this he or she are more

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