Program of Tuberculosis Control Among University Students

Survey of Results for the First 14 Years of Operation

¹ The Instituto de Neumologia y Cátedra de Clinica Neumológica de la Facultad de Medicina.

A survey is made of results attained as of December 1955 in conjunction with a tuberculosis control program set up for University students in 1942, comprising compulsory, periodical, free-of-charge tuberculin and photoroentgen examinations.

The analyzed group is made up of 17,259 undergraduates, of which 57.0 per cent proved tuberculin positives with the Stewart-Trambusti test. This percentage rose to 82.5 per cent on submitting tuberculin negatives to intradermal reaction with 1 mg., and when necessary 10 mg. SOT. In the course of time a gradual increase of low reactors was found.

The average number of examinations per person was 5.5 while follow-up totalled 3.8 years.

Tuberculosis prevalence was 5.6 per thousand, made up of 36 processes known by the concerned individuals, and 60 unknown inapparent lesions.

Among the 50,102 person-years under observation, the incidence was 3.9 per thousand. This comprises 96 inapparent tuberculous lesions brought out by the systematic photoroentgen examination and 97 acute intercurrent cases appearing between two systematic examinations in those found normal.

The incidence throughout the four years following the intial control, gradually declined with time, passing from 1.5 per cent for students enrolling between 1943 and 1945 down to 0.0 per cent for those filed in 1952-54.

Of the total number of tuberculosis diagnosed, 24.9 per cent were advanced proceases with cavities.

In tuberculin negatives and low reactors, tuberculosis incidence was slightly over 10 per thousand, while in positives by the Stewart-Trambusti test it was over 21 per thousand.

83.7 per cent of the cases presented a state of clinical cure by December 31st, 1955 (average follow-up: 73.1 months).

Three students had died of tuberculosis, all of them prior to the advent of antibiotics. The death rate was 0.06 per thousand persons-year.