ABSTRACT
Pulmonary diseases both infectious and environmental are particularly
common within the tropics generally defined as Central and South
America, sub-Saharan Africa, South and Southeast Asia. These diseases
are responsible for 20-40% of outpatient medical visits and hospital admissions (1). The rising population of HIV-infected individuals with associated
opportunistic infections and tuberculosis accounts for a large portion of
pulmonary infection in these regions. The spectrum of pulmonary diseases once found only in the tropical and subtropical arenas now are emerging
in both North America and Europe due to the breadth of international
travel and a rising immigrant population. Table 1 lists a number of the
infectious and noninfectious pulmonary diseases encountered in tropical
regions.
