I learned from Creative Loafing recently that the homeless shelter of the Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless has been the site of several cases of drug-resistant tuberculosis. Apparently, it was still possible before reading this article for my opinion of the shelter to sour further, because that's exactly what happened. Incredulously, it soured still more today upon information I learned from a confidential source.
I would like to forewarn you that I personally have no access to the statistics or, obviously, the medical records of Emory University Hospital Midtown, the emergency entrance of which is located less than 500 feet from that of the shelter. I have never knowingly met or spoken with anybody with any form of tuberculosis. Furthermore, I know nobody who is in any way affiliated with the shelter. However, the source of the information I am about to reveal is familiar, in an adversarial sense, with the operations of the shelter, and holds a position of good authority.
According to this source, non-homeless individuals, as unaffiliated with the shelter as I am, have been admitted in recently increasing numbers to Atlanta hospitals with symptoms of tuberculosis, particularly Emory Midtown (or Crawford-Long, if you prefer). Some have actually been given diagnoses of tuberculosis; at least one was an employee of an unnamed restaurant near the shelter.
If this can be proven, the shelter must be immediately closed and its inhabitants placed in quarantine. If not, there are nonetheless proven cases of drug-resistant tuberculosis within the shelter, in which members of Occupy Atlanta have recently started living. These protestors are nearly certain to leave the shelter in short order, possibly tonight, and if they are infected, the disease will have become much more mobile.
I urge those reading to share this story with fellow Atlantans. A dire situation may be brewing.
great info!! Hope others read and take action.
ReplyDeletethe source of the information I am about to reveal is familiar, in an adversarial sense, with the operations of the shelter, and holds a position of good authority
ReplyDeletethe essence of good reporting! did you say you were an applied linguistics major? and you don't see through this?
^I would clarify what I meant by 'familiar,' but somebody might lose their job.
ReplyDeleteso what do you mean by "adversarial" then? why would someone lose their job trashing the task force? some people do it for a living!
ReplyDeleteHere is the real story:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta/tests-show-no-tuberculosis-1222540.html
That's quite a relief, though it doesn't prove that nobody outside Occupy Atlanta contracted the disease from a shelter resident.
ReplyDeleteIt might be a "responsible thing" to change the title of this blog post, as it is a baseless claim.
ReplyDeleteFEAR mongering. *SOME*one is just tee'd off 'cuz of a little whistle blowing against Kasim Reed's brother.
ReplyDeleteBlow the tax dollars into oblivion and dash the futures of employees in gov't (through trashing the budget), and you will get whistle blowing.
This is nothing more than a political tit-for-tat.
Amy,
ReplyDeleteIf you would bother to take a look around my blog, you would know that I'm no fan of the Reed administration and its cronyism. In fact, I produced and posted not one, but two unofficial YouTube advertisements for Mary Norwood's campaign two years ago. It goes without saying, then, that I don't work for him, and indeed have no connection at all to city government. I am who I say I am.
I admit that I probably should have gathered evidence before writing this post. Obviously, that's easier said than done (I can't call the hospital, ask "Any TB cases lately?" and expect an answer), but I have the feeling that the comments here would have been of a more desperate nature had I any proof. Expect to see some within the week.
One last thought that I would like to offer any Task Force volunteers: your public relations campaign is an utter failure. I haven't met a single person in months, even in Occupy (before they became allies), who openly expressed anything but contempt for the shelter. In light of your unwillingness to be a good neighbor, Atlanta wants you gone. I would stop commenting on blog posts, if I were you, and start hiring more lawyers soon.
It was one employee at emory hospital who had an active case, IN FEBRUARY, and exposed over 700 patients and 100 employees (though officials emphasize that it is highly unlikely that the infection is spread, though of course urges people to get tested). i'm not making this up despite your deep grammar fantasies of homeless enthusiasts for hire:
ReplyDeleteOfficials urging Emory patients exposed to TB to get tested
http://www.ajc.com/news/officials-urging-emory-patients-959723.html
(see, this is at least news: it gives valuable public health info and advises a rational course of action - and i'm no fan of the ajc)
AND
Tests show no tuberculosis among Occupy Atlanta protesters, leader says
http://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta/tests-show-no-tuberculosis-1222540.html
Franzen makes a valuable point. in fact, it leads to the inescapable conclusion that we should close the jails immediately as they are a major vector for the spread of turberculosis.
here's some really scary news since you are looking for it:
Drug-resistant TB spreading fast in Europe
http://www.ajc.com/health/drug-resistant-tb-spreading-1180472.html
it is obvious of course that once the emergency shelter in downtown atlanta is razed and cauterized, europe will be safe again.
years ago i remember us finding a man dead under a bridge, body consumed with tuberculosis. this was before peachtree pine even existed, and had it existed, he could have been tested and treated.
i'm not asking you to change the title of this post out of spite, i just think it is embarrassing for you as a trained thinker to fall for this shit from "an adversary of the task force." it is a seasonal binge of diseased rumormongering and someone with a critical consciousness such as yourself should be able to know better.
It's interesting that the AJC article didn't identify the source of the respiratory tech's tuberculosis. For all we know, she could have gotten it from a trip to a TB-ravaged community, but the shelter hasn't explicitly been ruled out as a source.
ReplyDeleteAlso, you may have noticed that I haven't mentioned Europe once thus far, never mind the seriousness of their epidemic. Here in the United States, we normally take ample precaution when a tuberculosis outbreak arises. We "freak out," if you will. This is because most of us are unfamiliar with the disease, and are perfectly content with that.
According to the Creative Loafing article I linked to in my original post, Fulton County Health Services was not satisfied with the Task Force's handling of the outbreak in February (perhaps coincidentally, two months before the Emory worker was diagnosed). If the Task Force, not Fulton County, has worked harder to contain its spread, I would be happy to see evidence of it.
From:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ajc.com/news/officials-urging-emory-patients-959723.html
regarding the one case found:
"It is unclear how she contracted it."
also, i have to hand it to ajc, they included standard guidance and public health info:
"TB is passed from person to person only through droplets in the air -- not through shaking hands, sharing food or other forms of contact, Skelly said. It can cause coughing, chest pains, weakness, fatigue and other symptoms. People with what's known as latent TB don't feel sick or have symptoms; only an estimated 5 percent actually develop active TB disease.
No Emory employees have tested positive, Skelly said, adding that all workers are screened for TB each year."
This is materially different from your headline: "Peachtree-Pine Spreading Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis" and your (self-admitted) baseless accusations are not information that can be used in any responsible way.
PtP has a standard protocol for cleaning the shelter every day to prevent the transmission of possible communicable diseases. ALL RESIDENTS are REQUIRED to test for TB a the Fulton County Health Dept. or Mercy Mobile before being admitted into the program.
ok, this is copypasta, but :
from Matthew McKenna, Fulton county services director, via cbs news:
"ALL PERSON(S) IDENTIFIED AS POSITIVE HAVE BEGUN TREATMENT, HAVE BEEN REMOVED FROM THE FACILITY, AND ARE BEING MONITORED TO ENSURE THAT MEDICATION IS TAKEN AS DIRECTED."
an occupier from occupy atlanta made this statement:
ATLANTA, Nov. 10, 2011, 5:40 p.m. - Occupy Atlanta's Tim Franzen today disputed a report that a drug-resistant tuberculosis strain may force the group to move its headquarters from atop a homeless shelter.
"They [the health department] have no data on an outbreak." Franzen told Redding News Review's radio show. "They have two cases that have been confirmed, but they have both come out of the Fulton County Jail, which is where people get TB."
Franzen said that he and others have no problems with spending the night at the facility.
He raises a good point. Close the Jail!