The Use of Tuberculin Test as a Public Health Measure

In this age of scientific advances, progress in the field of health is made when the medical profession and the public take an active interest in the successful application of these advances. Sometimes, the time lag from discovery in the laboratory to clinical application of a new procedure is very short. Unfortunately for all of us, the proper application of the tuberculin test introduced shortly after Robert Koch discovered the tubercle bacilli in 1882 has been a long time in coming. Serious attempts to adopt this important health examination to our present day needs should be uppermost in the minds of everyone interested in the eradication of tuberculosis. Some of the methods for accomplishing this worthy goal are reviewed with emphasis placed on personal and community responsibility as the key to success.