The health department said it is providing tuberculosis testing and treatment for the Human Resources Administration's program for the homeless, and will train staff members on tuberculosis prevention and control. The department also has an established residence for homeless tuberculosis patients, and is working with substance-abuse treatment services to extend tuberculosis prevention in its programs. The Board of Health approved a resolution last year requiring all children entering city schools to be tested. The Health Department estimates that one million New Yorkers may be infected by the TB germ. But only a fraction of a percent of those who have active tuberculosis disease can spread the infection to susceptible individuals. The germ is inactive in more than 99% of those infected. Those at high risk for contracting TB are people whose capacity for resisting infection is weakened, either through diseases such as HIV infection, by drug or alcohol abuse, serious illness such as cancer, or by poor nutrition. The greatest concentration of tuberculosis was in the 25-to-44 age group, accounting for 57% of the total. Men outnumber women two to one in the caseload.
The New York City Health Commissioner said that the number of active cases of tuberculosis in the city in 1990 totaled 3,520, an increase of 38 percent over 1989. The Department said that it was instituting new cure programs, and taking measures to improve tuberculosis prevention programs. In a report on tuberculosis, Dr. Robert M. Lipton, director of the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said, '' The greatest concentration of new cases was in the 25-44 age group. The number of men in the caseload was twice that the number of women.