Wendy Rigby, Texas Public Radio, Author at ��ýҕ�l Health News

South Texas Fights Tuberculosis One Blood Test At A Time

Wendy Rigby, Texas Public Radio — Tue, 08 Aug 2017 09:00:33 +0000

Like most people at , San Antonio’s largest homeless shelter, James Harrison doesn’t plan on staying long. “I lost my apartment and had nowhere else to go,” he explained.

But while he’s here, he’s taking advantage of free medical testing — a screening for dormant tuberculosis.

“People don’t even think about TB anymore because you don’t see it anymore,” said Harrison, who is 55. “There’s nothing that tells you, until it’s too late, that it’s there.”

Latent Vs. Active TB

Tuberculosis is an airborne bacterial infection that attacks the lungs and can be deadly. There’s a common TB skin test, but the San Antonio health department says the skin test takes 48 to 72 hours to produce a result and is susceptible to false positives. A blood test is more accurate and requires only 24 hours to get results. A vial of blood can be tested to see if people are carrying TB without showing symptoms. That’s called , a condition that puts them at much greater risk of developing active, contagious TB if they are exposed again.

“It goes into your lungs and usually it hides there dormant for years and years. Although it sounds very scary, it is completely treatable,” said , an infectious disease specialist who is part of a program called Breathe Easy South Texas. BEST is an ambitious $2 million effort to test at-risk people in 20 Texas counties — an area larger than some entire states.

�ճ�� teamed up with the ,��Ի��. They offer testing at places like shelters, diabetes clinics and medical offices that treat mostly low-income patients.

“It’s not a problem that’s on the south side or east side. It’s a problem all across Bexar County,” said Tommy Camden, TB services manager with San Antonio’s health department. He said tuberculosis cases hit both urban and rural communities.

“It doesn’t care what color you are, how much money you make,” he added. “As long as you’re breathing, you’re susceptible to catching tuberculosis.”

Still, some populations are at greater risk of carrying the TB bacterium: the homeless, IV drug abusers, people with diabetes and those born in some other countries. For most people who test positive, the diagnosis of latent TB comes as a surprise. But testing is easy.

A Third Of The Planet’s Population Is Infected

“We’ve got some huge challenges ahead of us,” Camden said, because there is so much latent TB out there.

The Haven for Hope, a homeless shelter in San Antonio, is one of dozens of locations around 20 South Texas counties where people are now being tested for latent tuberculosis infections. (Wendy Rigby/Texas Public Radio)

Texas, California, Florida and New York have the highest rates of tuberculosis in the U.S. Camden said he hopes those states can mimic the BEST program, which screened 3,500 people last year. Roughly 9 to 10 percent were found to have latent TB.

“I am passionate about this because this condition can affect you when you least expect it,” said nurse Diana Cavazos with University Health System. She said those who test positive are given X-rays and a 12-week course of antibiotics — even transportation to the appointments if they need it, free of charge.

“Testing, supplies, treatment, X-rays — it’s completely covered,” Cavazos explained.

At the moment, the BEST program is funded through the Medicaid waiver Texas has with the federal government. But future funding is a question mark. The threats in Washington, D.C., to cut Medicaid have sown uncertainty at precisely the time the testing program is planning to expand.

This story is part of a partnership that includes , and Kaiser Health News.

��ýҕ�l Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about .

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In Texas, Students Help Provide Health Care for Refugees

Wendy Rigby, Texas Public Radio — Fri, 23 Dec 2016 16:47:54 +0000

Each Wednesday at on the north side of San Antonio, dozens of refugees from all over the world come for free care at the Refugee Health Clinic.Students and faculty at the have teamed up to operate one of the only student-run refugee clinics in the country. In the past six years, more refugees have resettled in Texas than in any other state. That was before the state of Texas in September, citing concerns over terrorism. The refugees who come seeking care are from the Middle East, southern Africa and Asia. They have fled violence and persecution. An estimated 5,000 refugees live within 3 miles of San Antonio’s . Most who have resettled here receive temporary federal government health benefits that run out after six months or so. “We really fill that gap before they can kind of get on their feet after they’ve lost their government benefits,” says Michael Tcheyan, a medical student who volunteers at the clinic. “We feel like it’s our duty, and it’s their right to get medical care and to be connected with services that are going to make their life better.” Medical students from the Student Faculty Collaborative Practice of UT Health San Antonio help provide care along with students from the , the and the , which includes physician assistants, physical therapy and respiratory care. Layla Mohsin, 52, came to the clinic for dental care. She’s a teacher from Iraq who came to the U.S. with her family of seven to escape the violence. “We left Iraq and came to the United States because there is safety here. There, there is no safety,” Mohsin says as her son, Karrar Al Gburi, interprets for her. “The main concern? The lethal explosive cars. You can get caught by an explosive car at any place, any time.” Laxmi Adhikari, a 65-year-old old man who fled Bhutan to a refugee camp in Nepal, is being treated for an itchy stubborn rash. He sports a T-shirt with a local high school team logo, a gift from one of the many people in San Antonio who he says have welcomed him. “It’s far better than the refugee camp,” Adhikari says through Nepalese interpreter Dal Gajmer. “I trust and believe all of the nurses and doctors. They treat me very well.” Dental student Eduardo Vela is originally from another country, too. He understands his patients’ challenges. “If you don’t know the language, there are a lot of cultural differences. I myself grew up in Mexico, so I know a little bit of the feeling of being an outsider and then trying to fit in,” Vela says. The refugee population has many unmet medical needs, says clinic . “They are in search of people to manage their high blood pressure, their diabetes, their high cholesterol, thyroid disease, mental health issues,” Wayman explains. “For a lot of us that went into medicine, we went into it to help people. This is a population that needs help, and so it’s really a joy.” Funding for the Refugee Health Clinic is provided through the and as well as the operations budget of the , part of the of the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. Endowment funds, individual donors and the university pitch in to cover other costs. Texas will continue to be home to new refugees. But instead of giving financial assistance to the state, the federal will be giving that money directly to nonprofits. The refugees don’t use the free clinic forever. The staff helps them find more permanent care. If patients need a referral to a specialist, they may have to find a way to pay for that visit. The students and faculty also work to connect patients to whatever health coverage they might be eligible for, such as a financial assistance program for health care services through It’s available for Bexar County residents who do not have public or private health insurance. The cost is based on family size and income. Navigating the health care system can be difficult even for Americans, says one of the clinic’s founders, Dr. an associate professor of emergency medicine at UT Health Science Center, so he says it is hard to imagine the difficulty for these refugees. “You don’t speak the language, may not have a job,” Muck says. “And even though you’re in the midst of this robust health system, you can’t get in the door, can’t get over those hurdles.”

Each Wednesday at on the north side of San Antonio, dozens of refugees from all over the world come for free care at the Refugee Health Clinic.

Students and faculty at the have teamed up to operate one of the only student-run refugee clinics in the country.

In the past six years, more refugees have resettled in Texas than in any other state. That was before the state of Texas in September, citing concerns over terrorism.

The refugees who come seeking care are from the Middle East, southern Africa and Asia. They have fled violence and persecution. An estimated 5,000 refugees live within 3 miles of San Antonio’s .

Most who have resettled here receive temporary federal government health benefits that run out after six months or so.

“We really fill that gap before they can kind of get on their feet after they’ve lost their government benefits,” says Michael Tcheyan, a medical student who volunteers at the clinic. “We feel like it’s our duty, and it’s their right to get medical care and to be connected with services that are going to make their life better.”

Medical students from the Student Faculty Collaborative Practice of UT Health San Antonio help provide care along with students from the , the and the , which includes physician assistants, physical therapy and respiratory care.

Layla Mohsin, 52, came to the clinic for dental care. She’s a teacher from Iraq who came to the U.S. with her family of seven to escape the violence.

“We left Iraq and came to the United States because there is safety here. There, there is no safety,” Mohsin says as her son, Karrar Al Gburi, interprets for her. “The main concern? The lethal explosive cars. You can get caught by an explosive car at any place, any time.”

Laxmi Adhikari, a 65-year-old old man who fled Bhutan to a refugee camp in Nepal, is being treated for an itchy stubborn rash. He sports a T-shirt with a local high school team logo, a gift from one of the many people in San Antonio who he says have welcomed him.

“It’s far better than the refugee camp,” Adhikari says through Nepalese interpreter Dal Gajmer. “I trust and believe all of the nurses and doctors. They treat me very well.”

Dental student Eduardo Vela is originally from another country, too. He understands his patients’ challenges. “If you don’t know the language, there are a lot of cultural differences. I myself grew up in Mexico, so I know a little bit of the feeling of being an outsider and then trying to fit in,” Vela says.

Third-year dental student Alex Dolbik checks the oral health of a patient at the Refugee Health Clinic in San Antonio. (Wendy Rigby/Texas Public Radio)

The refugee population has many unmet medical needs, says clinic . “They are in search of people to manage their high blood pressure, their diabetes, their high cholesterol, thyroid disease, mental health issues,” Wayman explains. “For a lot of us that went into medicine, we went into it to help people. This is a population that needs help, and so it’s really a joy.”

Funding for the Refugee Health Clinic is provided through the and as well as the operations budget of the , part of the of the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. Endowment funds, individual donors and the university pitch in to cover other costs.

Texas will continue to be home to new refugees. But instead of giving financial assistance to the state, the federal will be giving that money directly to nonprofits.

Layla Mohsin, a teacher from Iraq, and her son Karrar Al Gburi are clients of the Refugee Health Clinic. (Wendy Rigby/Texas Public Radio)

The refugees don’t use the free clinic forever. The staff helps them find more permanent care. If patients need a referral to a specialist, they may have to find a way to pay for that visit.

The students and faculty also work to connect patients to whatever health coverage they might be eligible for, such as a financial assistance program for health care services through It’s available for Bexar County residents who do not have public or private health insurance. The cost is based on family size and income.

Navigating the health care system can be difficult even for Americans, says one of the clinic’s founders, Dr. an associate professor of emergency medicine at UT Health Science Center, so he says it is hard to imagine the difficulty for these refugees.

“You don’t speak the language, may not have a job,” Muck says. “And even though you’re in the midst of this robust health system, you can’t get in the door, can’t get over those hurdles.”

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