Improving TB control in prisons may lead to better national programmes

A "forgotten plague" of tuberculosis besets prisons in countries with a high prevalence of tuberculosis, according to Connix et al (p 440). They show that tuberculosis case rates in prisons in such countries are among the highest in any population (up to 7200 cases per 100 000). Prison conditions predispose to transmission of infection and make its control harder, but the risk of not controlling it is that multidrug resistant disease spreads outside prison into the civilian population. Effective control in prisons relies on direct observation not only of treatment (to ensure adherence and prevent drugs entering the black market) but also of sputum sampling. A well run prison programme may, they argue, help create effective national control programmes.

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Relevant Article

Tuberculosis in prisons in countries with high prevalence

Rudi Coninx, Dermot Maher, Hernán Reyes, and Malgosia Grzemska
BMJ 2000 320: 440-442. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]