Tuberculosis Practices Research Articles

Valuation of knowledge, attitude, practices of tuberculosis among the health care workers from Islamabad Pakistan

BackgroundTuberculosis (TB) as a foremost infectious disease adds massive burden to morbidity and mortality rate, despite of well-structured TB control programs around the globe. Inappropriate health care management system and poor implementation on standard in relevance to TB, remain some reasons causative to TB prevalence and its rising antimicrobial resistance. Health Care Workers (HCWs) laboring as a part of TB control system, are the vital warriors in achieving the goals of TB End Strategy by 2035. Their performance is influenced by their knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) toward this infectious disease. This study aimed to signify the role of KAP score of health care Workers in the better control and prevention of TB in the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), Pakistan. MethodsA cross-sectional study on Knowledge, Attitude and Practice study of Tuberculosis (TB) among health care Workers, was done in ICT, which is the capital of Pakistan. The KAP of TB was collected for the 306 Health Care Workers from all the Islamabad TB referring health facilities which refer the TB patients for testing to the National Reference Laboratory, Islamabad Pakistan. Eligible health care workers were requested to respond on KAP questionnaire after informed consent. KAP questionnaire comprised of knowledge, attitude, and practices section including demographic information. All the data was analyzed using IBM SPSS statistics 21. One Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was applied to calculate KAP mean score against different variables. On the significant data sets of ANOVA output, Tukey's Multiple Comparison Test was applied for pairwise comparison. Pearson correlation coefficient was utilized to explore the association between two qualitative variables. The non-parametric tests were applied to evaluate difference of KAP score in relation to demographic covariates individually. ResultsFrom June to July 2023, we conducted TB KAP study among Health Care Workers of ICT, Pakistan. The average age was 33 years (range 26–30 years). Majority of the recruited subjects were not being trained for dealing with TB infection. The results demonstrated that Health Care Workers working were lacking their knowledge about mode of TB transmission, best diagnostic technique, and contraction of TB infections. The mean knowledge, attitude and practices mean scores were 15.05 (SD = 3.96), 83.68 (SD = 15.74) and 6.31 (SD = 2.21), respectively. Mean knowledge score of Health Care Workers were significantly related to their educational level and occupation while no significant association was declared with working experience as TB staff. Pearson coefficient of attitude score with knowledge of Health Care Workers was of weak level (0.28). Practice mean score was correlated to knowledge mean score at a moderate level (r = 0.40). On the other hand, practice score was r = 0.29 with attitude mean score had shown weak level correlation. A number of demographic factors were strongly linked to each of the mean score of knowledge, attitude, and practices. ConclusionThese findings highlighted the significant involvement of education, profession, and professional trainings in the better knowledge, attitude, and practices of the TB related health care Workers. For a better management system of infectious diseases like TB, a well-trained and professionally competent staff of Health Care Workers is important so as to achieve the goal of TB-End strategy by 2035 from Pakistan, which is the 5th highest burden country for TB.

Clinical and economic analysis of the application of the method of three-dimensional reconstruction of lung tissue in the practice of tuberculosis institution

Background. The use of clinical and economic analysis in practical healthcare allows for a more rational use of the resources allocated by the state and contributes to the achievement of optimal indicators in terms of the quality of disease identification and the effectiveness of its treatment.
 Aim. To conduct a clinical and economic analysis of the prospects for introducing the 3D lung reconstruction method into tuberculosis practice, which is used to correct the level of adherence, reduce the severity of symptoms of anxiety and depression, and increase the effectiveness of chemotherapy.
 Materials and methods. In this scientific work, the results of treatment (more than 90 people) of newly diagnosed patients with destructive pulmonary tuberculosis, which were observed in the Nizhny Novgorod Regional Clinical Tuberculosis Dispensary, were used. The patients were divided into two groups. For the 1st group of patients, tactile lung models were made, among them a questionnaire was conducted using the MMAS-4 questionnaire and the HADS scale. For patients of the 2nd group, lung models were not made, and no survey was conducted. Each group was assessed the effectiveness of chemotherapy. Clinical and economic analysis of the cost of introducing the method of three-dimensional lung reconstruction into tuberculosis practice was carried out on the basis of two evaluation criteria «cost – effectiveness» and «cost-effectiveness increment» with additional mathematical calculations of the necessary indicators. The results obtained were compared with the existing known method of increasing adherence to tuberculosis treatment - the issuance of food packages.
 Results. Based on the results of the study, it was proved that the use of tactile models of the lungs in phthisiatric practice is more than 8 times cheaper than the method of issuing food kits with, in fact, comparable results of treatment effectiveness. If there is a need to increase the effectiveness of the treatment of tuberculosis patients by increasing the subsidy of food packages, the cost of one additional percent of efficiency is not economically viable.
 Conclusion. The clinical and economic analysis of the prospects for introducing the method of three-dimensional lung reconstruction into phthisiatric practice presented in the paper looks promising, which is confirmed by the performed mathematical calculations and comparisons, and can be recommended for use in the routine practice of phthisiatricians to correct the level of adherence of tuberculosis patients to chemotherapy, reduce the severity symptoms of anxiety and depression, as well as an increase in the effectiveness of treatment.

Factors influencing tuberculosis preventive practices among people living with HIV/AIDS enrolled in secondary health facilities in Lagos, Nigeria.

Tuberculosis is the most potent opportunistic infection leading to deaths among patients with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). Therefore, knowledge, attitude and practices regarding tuberculosis preventive strategy among People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) is vital in minimizing the risk of developing TB infection which forms the objective of this study. A descriptive cross-sectional study carried out using multi-stage sampling technique in selecting 606 respondents. Data was collected using a semi-structured questionnaire and analysed with SPSS version 23. Of all the respondents, 245 (40.4%) were within 28-37 years, 386 (63.7%) were females and 219 (36.1%) had secondary education. Majority of the respondents 500 (82.5%), 423(69.8%) and 411(67.8%) had positive attitude, good practices and good knowledge respectively. Associated factors were age, marital status, religion, educational status, knowledge and attitude with tuberculosis practices. Respondents between 18-27 years were twice less likely to engage in good TB preventive practices (OR-0.44, 95% CI- 0.25-0.78, p = 0.004). Over half of respondents had good tuberculosis preventive practices, influenced by their socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge and attitude towards TB infection. Preventive efforts need to be strengthened among individuals between 18-27 years of age, non-Christians and those with lower educational status.

Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices Towards Tuberculosis Among Clients Visiting Tepi General Hospital Outpatient Departments, 2019.

BackgroundTuberculosis, which is an infectious disease, is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in developing countries. Ethiopia is facing high tuberculosis burdens. Even if it is preventable and curable, individuals’ KAP towards the disease is one of the bottlenecks in decreasing the disease burdens. TGH, located in the Sheka zone, is one of the remote areas and the KAP towards TB is unknown. Therefore, the current study was undertaken in TGH to assess the KAP towards TB.Materials and MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted among 415 randomly selected participants. A structured questionnaire was used to collect the data by a face-to-face interview from May 23 to June 23/2019. Data were entered into Epidata 3.1 and exported to SPSS version 21 for descriptive analysis.ResultsA total of 345 (83%) respondents have heard about TB, while 76 (18%) respondents said persistence productive cough as symptoms of tuberculosis. Only 9.9% of participants mentioned bacteria as the cause of the diseases and 170 (41%) considered that the transmission is via air droplets. The majority (70%) of participants responded that its transmission is not preventable and overall 236 (56.9%) had high overall knowledge about TB. Thirty percent of the respondents considered that TB is serious to the area while 29% considered TB is not very serious for them. Fifty-three percent of the participants were having a favorable attitude towards tuberculosis. The majority (85%) did not cover their mouth while coughing, while 79.5% did not screen for tuberculosis and 82% of participants have not received any health education about TB. Overall, 44.6% practiced TB prevention.ConclusionThe majority of the study participants had high overall knowledge and positive attitude towards tuberculosis prevention, which are not seen in the practice of tuberculosis. Effective educational programs should be implemented to overcome the problem.

Assessment of Teachers’ Knowledge about Tuberculosis at Primary School in Balad City

Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the most common infectious diseases worldwide and continues to be a major public health problem for low and middle-income countries. Undoubtedly, Lack of knowledge about tuberculosis among health care and education workers, as well as if knowledge and practices of tuberculosis among students were generally insufficient causes an increased risk of contracting the disease.Tuberculosis (TB) is a chronic communicable bacterial disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The Latest World Health Organization (WHO) Report shows that there were 9.0 Million new TB cases and 1.5 Million tuberculosis deaths. The Transmission of the TB disease by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (a bacterium of a group that includes the causative agents of tuberculosis). takes place by air in the form of sneeze, talk, cough, spit, etc. [1,9,11,12,13] This applied study attempt to identify, assess and analyze teachers’ knowledge about tuberculosis in primary schools. A descriptive design, cross-sectional study was carried out in order to achieve the earlier stated objectives of this study by find out the relationship between teachers’ knowledge and social demographic data (sex, age, academic achievement, ….).The present study lasted for four months by prepared a questionnaires to assess the level of teachers’ knowledge, and these questionnaire contains many themes, each theme contained a number of questions to evaluate and analyze teachers’ knowledge of tuberculosis by answering a set of questions (as a variables); (mode of transmission, symptoms and signs, diagnostic features of TB, duration of treatment, prevention methods, risk of developing tuberculosis). The research hypothesis also states that (mycobacterium tuberculosis factor) has a direct impact on TB infection, and to achieve this hypothesis, a questionnaire was distributed to a sample with a size of (58) teachers and the method of Multiple Logistic Regression was used for statistical treatment. Finally, the research concluded a set of results and conclusions included in tables by comparing Likelihood-ratio chi-square statistics and classification table of the observed versus predicted responses.

Patient support during treatment for active tuberculosis and for latent tuberculosis infection: Policies and practices in European low-incidence countries.

To provide an overview of the policies and practices of patient support during treatment for active tuberculosis and for latent tuberculosis infection in European countries with a low incidence of tuberculosis and to identify potential best practices. Policies, practices and its' evaluations from similar settings may aid in the development of evidence-based patient support guidelines. Descriptive study. In June 2016, a survey was conducted among the 24 European low tuberculosis incidence countries (<20 patients per 100,000 population). Nineteen of the 24 countries approached responded. Most countries (18/19) gave some form of tuberculosis patient support including various treatment supervision options and treatment adherence interventions such as health education, psycho-emotional and socio-economic support. Patient support for persons on treatment for latent tuberculosis infection was less widely (9/19) implemented. Patient support guidelines were available in 13 countries, but none of the interventions included had been quantitatively evaluated for their effects on treatment adherence. Potential best practices included appointing a tuberculosis coordinator in charge of organizing patient support; putting a treatment plan meeting with patients, providers and stakeholders in place; supplying direct enablers for marginalized patients; organizing cultural-sensitive community support; and dispensing pill cases. A lack of resources impeded the provision of patient support, especially for home-based treatment supervision. We summarized policies and practices of tuberculosis and latent tuberculosis infection patient support in low tuberculosis incidence European countries. Given the lack of quantitative evaluations, more research is needed to verify the effectiveness of identified potential best practices.

Knowledge, Attitude and Practices of Tuberculosis (TB) Management Among Health Workers at the Emergency Department (ED) of Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), in a Low Emergency Resource Setting in West Africa

Knowledge, Attitude and Practices of Tuberculosis (TB) Management Among Health Workers at the Emergency Department (ED) of Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), in a Low Emergency Resource Setting in West Africa - Volume 32 Issue S1

Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Tuberculosis and its Transmission among High School Students in Yirgacheffe Town, Gedeo Zone, Southern Ethiopia

Background: Tuberculosis continues to be a major public health problem throughout the world, including Ethiopia. The aim of this study was to assess secondary students knowledge, attitude, and practice tuberculosis and it transmission. Methods: Institutional based cross sectional study was conducted from April 17-18/2015 in Yirgachefe secondary school students. A total of 264 study participants were included using simple random sampling technique. Data was collected using self-administered questionnaires and analyzed using SPSS software version 20.0. Result: Two hundred forty five (99.6%) of the respondents said that they ever heard about tuberculosis. It was indicated that 59.8% (95% CI: 53.9% to 65.7%) of participants had good knowledge of TB and its transmission, only 32.9% (95% CI: 27.0% to 38.6%) have good attitude and 68.7% (95% CI: 63.1% to 74.3%) have good practice towards the prevention of TB transmission. Being grade 12 had significant association with knowledge of tuberculosis and its transmission. Conclusion: It was identified that there was a gap in knowledge and attitude on tuberculosis and its transmission among the study participants. Emphasis needs to be given on increasing the knowledge, attitude and practice of students about TB and its transmission.

Knowledge Attitudes and Practices of Tuberculosis among Roma population in Kosovo

Knowledge Attitudes and Practices of Tuberculosis among Roma population in Kosovo

Tuberculosis patients' knowledge and beliefs about tuberculosis: a mixed methods study from the Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu.

BackgroundThe setting for this study was the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu, an archipelago of 82 islands, located in the South Pacific Ocean. Our objective was to assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices of tuberculosis (TB) patients towards TB.MethodsThis was a descriptive study using qualitative and quantitative methods. Quantitative analysis was based on the responses provided to closed questions, and we present frequencies to describe the TB patients’ knowledge, attitudes and practice relating to TB. Qualitative analysis was based on open questions permitting fuller explanations. We used thematic analysis and developed a posteriori inductive categories to draw conclusions.ResultsThirty five TB patients were interviewed; 22 (63%) were male. They attributed TB to cigarettes, kava, alcohol, contaminated food, sharing eating utensils and “kastom” (the local term for the traditional way of life, but also for sorcery). Most (94%) did not attribute TB to a bacterial cause. However, almost all TB patients (89%) thought that TB was best treated at a hospital with antibiotics. Three quarters (74%) experienced stigma after their TB diagnosis.Seeking health care from a traditional healer was common; 54% of TB patients stated that they would first consult a traditional healer for any illness. When seeking a diagnosis for signs and symptoms of TB, 34% first consulted a traditional healer. Patients cited cost, distance and beliefs about TB causation as reasons for first consulting a traditional healer or going to the hospital. Of the TB patients who consulted a traditional healer first, there was an average of two weeks delay before they consulted the health service. In some cases, however, the delay was up to six years.ConclusionThe majority of the TB patients interviewed did not attribute TB to a bacterial cause. Consulting a traditional healer for health care, including while seeking a diagnosis for TB symptoms, was common and may have delayed diagnosis. People require better information about TB to correct commonly held misperceptions about the disease. Traditional healers could also be engaged with the national TB programme, in order to refer people with signs and symptoms of TB to the nearest health service.

Knowledge, attitude and practice(KAP) of tuberculosis patients enrolled on treatment in Juba City, South Sudan 2010: a pilot study

Study setting: Juba Teaching Hospital, Juba city, Republic of South Sudan, 2010. Objective: To examine, knowledge, attitude and practices of tuberculosis (TB) patients enrolled on tuberculosis treatment, Juba, South Sudan. Design: Descriptive study Results: Knowledge in TB: Of the 102 patients interviewed; up to 80.4% were not knowledgeable on cause of TB, 52% did not know correct signs and symptoms of TB, 39.2% did not know overall treatment duration, 54.9% did not know the importance of strict adherence to treatment. Knowledge on correct diagnosis was 87.3% and on correct means of TB transmission was 79.4%. Practices and Attitudes: On practices; 94.1% respondents were able to perform at least one task to stop spread of disease, access to free TB test occurred in 100% of cases and for free drugs in 99% cases. Health care workers correctly suspected TB on first contact in 95.1% of cases. Patients were offered health education on drug side effects in 93.1% of cases, on HIV testing and counselling in 74.5% of cases. Disclosure of TB diagnosis by patient to family or community did not occur in 91.2% cases. Family, community and employers offered support to patients in 92.2%, 95.1% and 98% of cases respectively. Conclusion: We found key knowledge gaps among Juba TB patients enrolled on treatment. These knowledge gaps are probably responsible for the high treatment defaulter rates reported in Juba, South Sudan. Tuberculosis patients are still not interested to freely reveal disease diagnosis to members of the family and community at large.

English

This study was carried out in 2009 to determine the knowledge, attitude and practice of tuberculosis (TB) and its socio-demographic determinants in six selected Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Enugu State, South East Nigeria. A total of 1,200 respondents were selected from 6 Local Government Areas by multi-stage sampling technique and responses elicited from them by semi-structured, pre-tested interviewer administered questionnaire. Data collected were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 17. Awareness of tuberculosis was high (93%) among the households. Primary sources of information were radio (59.1%), community members (29.8%) and television (17.1%). Knowledge of tuberculosis disease was low, except for knowledge of TB symptoms (61.5%). Urban residents had better knowledge of TB than the rural respondents. Most of them believed that TB is curable and would opt for medical consultation, following suspicion of TB. Despite having relatively poorer knowledge of TB, rural communities were less likely to stigmatise against persons with TB (p = 0.000). Urban households had significantly better knowledge of TB and access to TB services (p = 0.000). Educational status of an individual and the spouse, literacy status and religion were significantly associated with TB-related knowledge, attitude and practice. Therefore, socio-demographic factors should be considered in subsequent behavioural changes communications in the country. &nbsp; &nbsp; Key words: Perception, symptoms, transmission, determinants, Nigeria. &nbsp

Study on Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Tuberculosis among Rural Population of Tamil Nadu

Background : Premature death is the main cause of the burden of TB, as measured in terms of DALYs lost. Besides the disease burden, TB also causes an enormous socio-economic burden to India. TB primarily affects people in their most productive years of life with important socio-economic consequences for the household and the disease is even more common among the poorest and marginalized sections of the community. Almost 70% of TB patients are aged between the ages 15 and 54 years of age. The prime cause for MDR-TB, and EXDR TB is failure to adherence to the treatment of DOTS. Poor adherence is due to insufficient knowledge, poor attitude, inadequate practices towards to tuberculosis and that leads to Treatment failure and default. So this study was planned to know about knowledge and attitude and practices in the study population. Material and Method: A cross sectional study was carried out in Kancheepuram, a district belonging to the field practice area of RHTC-Chunampet, Department of Community Medicine. Systemic random sampling was used for selection of study population. 2005 adults were interviewed by using a pretested validated questionnaire. Data entry and analysis was done using SPSS 16.0. Result: Total of 2005 respondents were interviewed out of which 1196(59.7%) were females and remaining 809 (40.35) were males. Maximum (35.3%) respondents belonged to the age group of 15-30 years followed by 31-35 years age group(28.7%). Only 4.9% (98) respondents knew that Mycobacterium tuberculosis is the causative agent and 13.4% (268) of the respondents knew smoking as a risk factor, 5% (100) knew that malnutrition and overcrowding as risk factor for Tuberculosis. More than half of the respondents 1092(54.5%) were aware that cough was the main symptom of tuberculosis and also they knew that fever(11.8%), loss of appetite(5%) and loss of weight(23%) as symptoms of Tuberculosis. About one fourth of the respondents knew that sputum examination is investigation of choice to diagnose TB. Majority (80%) of respondents agreed that BCG vaccination would protect against Tuberculosis. Two third of the study population knew that sputum examination is essential if cough persisted for more than two weeks. About 66% of the respondents felt that 6 months anti tuberculosis treatment was essential. Conclusion: Inadequate knowledge about tuberculosis among study respondent Hence proper IEC &BCC was planned to increase knowledge of the community.

Tuberculosis practices among private medical practitioners in Kaski district, Nepal

INTRODUCTION: Although the evidences suggest that more than one third tuberculosis (TB) cases are being managed in private sector, the quality of care in private sector is major concern. However, the information regarding the private practices were lacking. Therefore the study was conducted to gain insights on current practices of TB management at private sectors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A descriptive cross sectional study, applying quantitative method, was conducted at two cities of Kaski among all private practitioners, private pharmacies and private laboratories through self administered questionnaire and structured interview schedule. RESULTS: Nearly one fourth of the TB suspects in the district were found to have consulted private providers with about 20.0% of the total smear positive cases diagnosed in private laboratories. Beside sputum microscopy, Private Medical Practitioners (PMPs) were also found to prefer other tests like X-ray, culture for TB diagnosis. Similarly, PMPs’ varying prescription of anti TB drugs beyond National TB Programme (NTP) recommendation along with their weak recording and case holding were noteworthy, and the cost of TB treatment seemed higher in private sector. Only one third of private institution had their staff trained in TB. Except some informal linkage, no collaboration between public and private sector was noted. CONCLUSIONS: Private sector was managing many TB cases in the district. However, their practice of TB management was not much satisfactory. Therefore NTP should take effective measures for Public Private Mix and to make them aware of the standards through training and orientation in order to improve the quality of care. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ijim.v1i2.7085 Int J Infect Microbiol 2012;1(1):68-75

Knowledge and practices regarding tuberculosis among people living with HIV/AIDS

Background: Tuberculosis is a serious public health problem in many developing countries. More than 2 billion people are infected with TB bacilli and annually around 9 million become infected, 1.7 million die due to this disease. TB is the most common opportunistic infection, leading to the mortality of people living with HIV.Objective: To assess the knowledge and practices of tuberculosis among people living with HIV/AIDS.Method: This study was carried out in Sunsari, Morang and Jhapa district of Eastern Nepal. Face to face interview was performed using convenience sampling technique. Data was collected from people living with HIV/AIDS, related to information on socio-demographic profile, knowledge, practices and risk taking behavior with the help of pretested semi-structured questionnaire. The generated data were entered into Microsoft Excel and SPSS 15.0 and Chi-square was applied for test of significance.Results- The total of 242 subjects were enrolled in the study. Out of them, 75.2% were males and 24.8% females, the age of the respondents varied from 14-65 years. Among them 53.3% were Intra Venus drug users, followed by 17.4% clients of commercial sex workers and housewives (17.4%). Around half (48.8%) of the study population were in the 30-39 yrs age group. The knowledge of tuberculosis disease was satisfactory but in depth knowledge of symptoms was not adequate. Regarding symptoms of TB, it was found that 85% were aware that cough for more than 2 weeks was suggestive of TB, 54% knew of chest pain and 84% knew of haemoptysis. Over the years, perception about tuberculosis has changed, which was shown by our finding, 93% of the respondents knew that TB is curable and 75% knew that anti-tuberculosis drugs provided free of cost under directly observed treatment short course (DOTS). Regarding knowledge of consequences of incomplete treatment, it was found that 17% answered the disease may attack again, and very few (2%) knew that incomplete or discontinued treatment would develop Multi drug resistantance.Conclusion- Our study revealed that knowledge and practices of people living with HIV/AIDS is not adequate. Their knowledge regarding consequences of treatment, and multi drug resisistance was very poor. Thus there is a need for an awareness program regarding tuberculosis - its signs and symptoms, treatment regimen and drug compliance through advocacy, communication and social mobilization.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/hren.v10i2.6578 Health Renaissance 2012; Vol 10 (No.2); 118-125

Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practice of Tuberculosis among Maasai in Simanjiro District, Tanzania

The objectives of this study are to determine knowledge, attitudes, and practice among Maasai concerning tuberculosis (TB), and to gain insight into the role of traditional healers in diagnosis and treatment. We conducted a descriptive-explorative study using questionnaires, semi-structured interviews collating information to assess and compare TB knowledge, attitudes, and practice. The study population consisted of the Maasai population. The Maasai have insufficient understanding concerning TB. Schooling has a significant positive effect on knowledge. The Maasai believe TB is manifest as a punishment from god and is treatable with herbs, roots, and bark. The Maasai have numerous other erroneous health assumptions and beliefs concerning TB. Traditional healers act as family doctors and play a key role in TB treatment initiation and adherence. Traditional healers have substantial influence over primary diagnosis and treatment of TB. Education could positively affect initiation of diagnosis and treatment, resulting in better TB control.

Transactions of the Eighteenth Conference on the Chemotherapy of Tuberculosis.

The Veterans Administration Department of Medicine and Surgery, the three Armed Forces, and several other organizations have engaged in a well-coordinated cooperative study of the chemotherapy of tuberculosis since the close of World War II. The 18th Conference was held in St. Louis, in February, 1959. This paper-bound volume is a complete transcript of fifty papers presented there along with spontaneous discussions and comments—sometimes of more worth than the formal presentations—thirty-one papers read by title, and committee reports which deal largely with future study plans. This conference had world-wide representation and can be expected to continue to exert a major influence in tuberculosis practice. The Transactions are devoted chiefly to drug therapy for tuberculosis—primarily pulmonary, of course—but they touch on several extra-thoracic forms of the disease as well. Other modalities of treatment, especially resectional surgery, receive attention. Several good papers are devoted to laboratory methods and the bacteriology of the