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Tuberculosis, Sexually Transmitted Diseases, HIV, and Other Infections Among Farmworkers in the Eastern United States

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Latino Farmworkers in the Eastern United States

Abstract

Farmworkers in the United States (US) have been disproportionately affected by the intersecting epidemics of tuberculosis (TB), sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and HIV. Furthermore, farmworkers tend to be politically, socially, and economically disenfranchised, which contributes to their increased vulnerability to infectious diseases. This chapter examines the epidemiology of infectious diseases, specifically TB, STDs, and HIV, among farmworkers; explores the risks facing farmworkers; outlines existing and promising approaches for the prevention, care, and treatment among farmworkers; and recommends new areas for practice and research. Because data that document risk and infection rates among farmworkers are lacking and the current intervention arsenal is weak, focus must be placed on strengthening our understanding of needs and the development of effective multilevel strategies to intervene upon the health needs of this particularly vulnerable population. Nowhere is this more urgent than in the eastern US, an area in which little research has been done to understand and support farmworkers and a region that bears disproportionate burdens of TB, STDs, and HIV.

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  1. Department of Social Sciences and Health Policy, Division of Public Health Sciences, and in the Section on Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA

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    \, S.D. (2009). Tuberculosis, Sexually Transmitted Diseases, HIV, and Other Infections Among Farmworkers in the Eastern United States. In: Quandt, ., Arcury, T. (eds) Latino Farmworkers in the Eastern United States. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-88347-2_6

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    • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-88347-2_6

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