Tuberculosis in a community hospital. A five-year review

Between January 1969 and December 1973, at a community hospital in Chicago, 129 patients had cultures positive for Mycobacterium tuberculosis. On admission to the hospital, only 36% of the patients were suspected of having tuberculosis, even after the initial chest x-ray film was available. Ten patients, in whom a positive culture was reported, were still living and had not been treated for tuberculosis as of June 1974. Five of these patients probably never had the disease, and the other five patients had overlooked-disease or had refused treatment. Nine patients died as a result of tuberculosis.