Epidemiology of tuberculosis in remote native communities

The incidence and mortality rates of tuberculosis among Indians living in the Sioux Lookout Zone in northwestern Ontario have declined over the past two decades. This 70-case series within the period 1975-1979 documents age-sex distribution, community distribution, sites of disease, signs and symptoms, bacteriologic status, X-ray findings, drug resistance and relapse rates, and effect of vaccination and chemoprophylaxis. Such information can also be used to evaluate the health care delivery system in general and the TB control program in particular. There are several policy implications in case-finding, treatment and prevention, especially in a setting such as the Sioux Lookout Zone, where both preventive and curative services are organized and delivered by the same agency.