Tuberculosis Among Indians of the United States

1) The high incidence of tuberculosis is the most outstanding disease problem among the Indians of the United States. There is no evidence that tuberculosis existed among them in pre-Columbian times. The prevalence of the disease, as indicated by mortality and morbidity rates, and by x-ray surveys, has shown a gradual decrease throughout the years; however, recent mortality figures are over five times that of the general population, and x-ray surveys have shown an incidence of over 3 per cent pulmonary lesions characteristic of tuberculosis.

2) The course and character of tuberculosis among the Indians does not differ significantly from that among the whites. Indians appear to exhibit no peculiar racial susceptibility to tuberculosis, and immunological factors have little influence in the high prevalence of the disease among them.

3) Environmental changes coincident with the advent of the whites, and subsequent socio-economic conditions on the reservations' have been largely responsible for the high rate of tuberculosis among the Indians. Inadequate medical care and facilities, dependent upon funds from the Federal Government, have also played an important part.