ABSTRACT
The objective of tuberculosis (TB) control is to reduce morbidity, mortality, and transmission of TB. In developed, industrialized countries, a substantial reduction was observed early in the 20th century before chemotherapy, thought to be due to improvement of socio-economic conditions (nutrition and housing), with possibly some effect from isolation of TB patients in sanatoria (1). Information on the trend in TB prior to chemotherapy from developing countries is sparse, being restricted virtually to studies reported from Tunisia and cities of Algeria [quoted by Styblo and coworkers (2)], showing a declining trend but at a much lower rate than was reported in the industrialized countries, and data on TB mortality from Latin America. It is likely that substantial reduction of the TB burden would only take place in such countries after implementation of well-organized TB control measures (3), an epidemiological term denoting ‘‘ongoing operations or programs aimed at reducing the incidence and/or prevalence’’ of TB (4).
