Recent Progress in Tuberculosis Chemotherapy Applicable to Public Health Programs’

In spite of measures developed to control tuberculosis, the disease continues to have a disquietingly large incidence in Latin America, which has led many to question the possibility of bringing it under control. Despite underregistration of vital and health statistics, the estimated annual figures for 1968-1969 show 68,000 deaths from tuberculosis and 180,000 new cases among a total population of roughly 265 million in Latin America and the Caribbean (I). This large yearly crop of new cases, added to the number already built up as a result of ineffective programs, produces a “snowball” effect which defies the operating capacity of the health services involved. The methods for reducing transmission of the tuberculosis bacillus-the only way of producing an impact on the epidemiolgy of the disease-are effective, and fortunately do not offer a wide range of alternatives that would make it difficult to choose among them. They are essentially limited to BGG vaccination for protecting susceptible persons and chemotherapy for interrupting transmission of the bacillus. Treatment of infectious cases not only reduces the reservoir of infection; it also alleviates