Alaskan doctors battling high TB rates

Health officials in Alaska hope to use a new set of tools to identify and treat tuberculosis. Alaska currently has the highest rate of TB in the United States, more than double the national average. Often times, cases are reported in remote areas that are difficult to treat and among Native American populations that have no natural immunity to the infection, according to AlaskaPublic.org. Dr. Michael Cooper, once a family practitioner, now manages Alaska’s infectious diseases program. Cooper said he spends at least half of his time dealing with tuberculosis. He admits that, as a doctor practicing in a rural community, he often had patients that complained of TB-like symptoms, but that TB was rarely on his mind. “And as I look back now I go through these patients some nights and think, that patient could have had TB and why didn’t I at least do this? Why wasn’t I even aware of...