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Public Health Issues

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Handbook of Tuberculosis

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Abstract

Tuberculosis has been a public health problem for centuries, and with an estimated two billion people living with latent infection, it will continue to wreak havoc in vulnerable populations. Strategies exist that can lessen the burden by treating those with latent infection, detecting and treating active disease earlier, and controlling transmission in congregate settings. Focusing efforts on high-risk populations and settings is likely to impact incidence more than in the general population and is likely more feasible [1]. We briefly review three key public health issues that if properly addressed have the potential to significantly impact the global tuberculosis burden: infection control, contact tracing, and preventive therapy.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe St. Suite E6531, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA

    David W. Dowdy

  2. Medicine/Infectious Disease, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, 1550 Orleans St. 1M.10, Baltimore, MD, 21231, USA

    Jonathan E. Golub

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  1. David W. Dowdy
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  2. Jonathan E. Golub
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Correspondence to David W. Dowdy .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Johns Hopkins Center for TB Research, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

    Jacques H. Grosset

  2. Johns Hopkins Center for TB Research, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

    Richard E. Chaisson

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Dowdy, D.W., Golub, J.E. (2017). Public Health Issues. In: Grosset, J., Chaisson, R. (eds) Handbook of Tuberculosis. Adis, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-26273-4_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-26273-4_5

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