The use of bacillary tuberculosis information system central files for special-purpose data search

The automated information system for surveillance of bacillary tuberculosis (ISBT) was put into operation in 1981, with the objective to record, store and process all mycobacterial positivity data reported by the network of specialized mycobacteriological laboratories in the Czech socialist republic. Here are described the newly developed data processing programs which allow it to carry out some special-purpose searches for the stored epidemiological data important for surveillance of tuberculosis. Further improvement of the national system of tuberculosis surveillance is believed to lie in the future compatibility of the two computerized systems operating at present in Czechoslovakia, i.e. ISBT and the Register of Tuberculosis.