Interpretation of tuberculosis infection age curves

The percentage of tuberculin reactors, by age, is sometimes used in the epidemiology of tuberculosis as one measure of the tuberculosis problem in a population. Whereas such data are useful for determining the load of infection in communities, it is shown in this paper that only in very few instances do they lend themselves to a quantitative determination of the risk of infection. Such data are, therefore, of limited epidemiological value, and the author suggests other types of data which could give more useful information.The results of tuberculin-testing obtained in sixteen mass BCG campaigns, from 1948 to 1951, have been used to illustrate the problems under discussion.

Tuberculosis organisms resistant to drugs; the incidence and the rate of relapse among patients

In a study carried out under the sponsorship of the California Tuberculosis and Health Association, 15 institutions for tuberculous patients were sent a questionnaire to obtain information regarding drug resistance studies on positive sputums of new patients and data on the readmission rate to tuberculosis hospitals. The results of these studies showed that the problem of drug resistant tubercle bacilli is sizable and important. In this study it was larger than has been reported by other investigators. The average readmission rate for the tuberculosis institutions covered in this study was 19.2 per cent-but many of the patients left the hospitals against medical advice.