Be Alarmed, Not Surprised. Posted 9:00:00 PM by DO (link)

A follow up to yesterday's post on the NYT's shabby coverage of new twists in the AIDS epidemic. Michelle Malkin draws our attention to a special report in the Washington Times on the immigration-driven spread of contagious disease. Just more immigrant bashing? You be the judge:

* "Hepatitis B is a 'very common epidemic in Asia' and more than half of the 1.3 million cases in this country are among Asians, who make up only 4 percent of the U.S. population."

* "The report found that people from outside the United States accounted for 53.3 percent of all new tuberculosis cases in this country in 2003. That was up from fewer than 30 percent in 1993. In 2003, nearly 26 percent of foreign-born TB patients in the United States were from Mexico."

* "Federal data suggest that as many as 10 percent of the approximately 1,000 Mexicans who emigrate to the United States daily probably are infected with Chagas."

* "Researchers say immigration is resulting in population shifts that are contributing to a rise in sickle cell anemia."

You've been vaccinated for Hepatitis B, live in a plastic bubble, have come to terms with your Chagas, and won't ever be at risk for sickle cell anemia. What do you care?

"A report by CIS, using 2004 data, 'found that 35 percent of [all] immigrants don't have health insurance, and an estimated 65 percent of illegals don't have it,' Mr. Camarota said. In contrast, fewer than 13 percent of U.S. natives and their children lack health insurance, the analysis showed. In 2002, he said, the federal government spent $2.5 billion to provide families of illegal immigrants with Medicaid and another $2.2 billion to provide medical treatment for uninsured illegals.

[...] "In 2002, [emergency rooms] and trauma centers in California provided $520 million worth of medical care for which they received no reimbursement. About $150 million was lost in Los Angeles County alone,' he said. Those losses were 18 percent higher than in 2001, and those in 2001 were 16 percent ahead of 2000. "So this puts the entire system at risk," Dr. Johnston said. He noted that Los Angeles County experienced the closings of seven emergency rooms last year and 16 clinics the year before."