TY - JOUR
T1 - Control of tuberculosis in large cities in developed countries
T2 - An organizational problem
AU - Caylà, Joan A.
AU - Orcau, Angels
N1 - Funding Information:
To the all health workers involved in the Barcelona TB Program in their 25th year (1986-2011). The authors acknowledge partial support for this research from the CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Spain.
PY - 2011/11/28
Y1 - 2011/11/28
N2 - Tuberculosis (TB) is still a serious public health issue, even in large cities in developed countries. Control of this old disease is based on complicated programs that require completion of long treatments and contact tracing. In an accompanying research article published in BMC Public Health, Bothamley and colleagues found that areas with a ratio lower than one nurse per forty notifications had increased rates with respect to TB notifications, smear-positive cases, loss to follow-up and treatment abandonment across the UK. Furthermore, in these areas there was less opportunity for directly observed therapy, assistance with complex needs, educational outreach and new-entrant screening. In this commentary, we discuss the importance of improving organizational aspects and evaluating TB control programs. According to Bothamley and colleagues, a ratio of one nurse per forty notifications is an effective method of reducing the high TB incidences observed in London and in other cities in developed countries, or to maintain the decline in incidence in cities with lower incidences. It is crucial to evaluate TB programs every year to detect gaps early.See related article: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/11/896.
AB - Tuberculosis (TB) is still a serious public health issue, even in large cities in developed countries. Control of this old disease is based on complicated programs that require completion of long treatments and contact tracing. In an accompanying research article published in BMC Public Health, Bothamley and colleagues found that areas with a ratio lower than one nurse per forty notifications had increased rates with respect to TB notifications, smear-positive cases, loss to follow-up and treatment abandonment across the UK. Furthermore, in these areas there was less opportunity for directly observed therapy, assistance with complex needs, educational outreach and new-entrant screening. In this commentary, we discuss the importance of improving organizational aspects and evaluating TB control programs. According to Bothamley and colleagues, a ratio of one nurse per forty notifications is an effective method of reducing the high TB incidences observed in London and in other cities in developed countries, or to maintain the decline in incidence in cities with lower incidences. It is crucial to evaluate TB programs every year to detect gaps early.See related article: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/11/896.
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U2 - 10.1186/1741-7015-9-127
DO - 10.1186/1741-7015-9-127
M3 - Comment/debate
C2 - 22122865
AN - SCOPUS:84857143269
SN - 1741-7015
VL - 9
JO - BMC medicine
JF - BMC medicine
M1 - 127
ER -