"The rise in TB in the U.S. is probably related to the huge increase in AIDS," says Lin Tao-ping, director of the Taiwan Provincial Chronic Disease Control Bureau. Once their immune system breaks down, AIDS sufferers are defenseless against communicable diseases. Twenty to 30 percent of them contract tuberculosis, especially atypical forms of the bacillus that ordinary people are not readily susceptible to and which are highly resistant to medication.
「美國結核病病例大增，恐怕和愛滋病病例巨幅升高有關」，台灣省慢性病防治局局長林道平說，愛滋病病人在免疫力喪失後，很容易受到傳染病感染，其中約有百分之廿到卅會感染結核病，尤其是一般人不易感染的非典型結核桿菌，這類病菌抗藥性十足，很難醫治。