Why Some Chicago Med Fans Are Confused About April's TB

Yaya DaCosta portrayed nurse April Sexton on "Chicago Med" between the years of 2015 and 2021, spanning the first six seasons of the series (via IMDb). In an interview with InStyle, DaCosta discussed how, starting shortly after departing the main cast of "Chicago Med," she began starring in her own show titled "Our Kind of People." "It feels very big and also very right on time," she said of the transition.

While DaCosta was still a "Chicago Med" cast member, she made up half of one of the best couples in "Chicago Med" history. However, while April's relationship with Dr. Ethan Choi (Brian Tee) is indeed a significant part of the series, DaCosta herself characterized its conclusion as anticlimactic, given that April and Ethan's final moments were affected by DaCosta's real-life departure.

Furthermore, certain fans became outright critical of April during her "Chicago Med" tenure, principally due to what some perceived to be a sort of self-righteous attitude. Similarly, at least one viewer was not quite critical but confused about one aspect of the fact that, in Season 1, April is revealed to have contracted tuberculosis — a seemingly rare diagnosis during the present day in which "Chicago Med" takes place.

User lamethunder started a thread on the official subreddit for discussion of "Chicago Med" titled "Why does no one find April's TB weird?" referring to a reveal in the Season 1 finale that April is positive for tuberculosis. They then explained that they believe TB to be highly uncommon, whereas the characters that find out about April's diagnosis treat it as nothing outside the ordinary.

In response, a number of users shared anecdotal statistics about TB and its prevalence in the present day. One user specifically mentioned that incidences of TB are higher among healthcare workers. A study published by The National Center for Biotechnology Information corroborates this, claiming that "[healthcare workers] are at higher than average risk for TB. Sound TB infection control measures should be implemented in all health care facilities with patients suspected of having infectious TB."

That said, the CDC reported a total of 7,860 cases of TB in the USA during 2021. In effect, then, the original poster has some statistical basis for their inquiry — even adjusting for a higher prevalence among healthcare workers, TB does indeed appear to be exceedingly rare. Nevertheless, April's coworkers may simply treat even rare medical conditions as a fact of life due to their line of work, hence their matter-of-factness.