Overt and cryptic miliary tuberculosis misdiagnosed until autopsy.

Autopsy confirmed deaths due to miliary tuberculosis in Finland were analysed in order to improve the diagnosis of the disease. Tuberculosis deaths from mortality statistics were examined in order to identify miliary tuberculosis deaths, and the medical records of the autopsied cases were studied. The deceased were divided into 2 groups, 'overt' disease and 'cryptic' disease, on the basis of chest X-ray findings.

Is the risk of occupational tuberculosis higher for young health care workers?

Setting: Health care workers in Finland.

Objective: Occupational tuberculosis (TB) was studied separately in nurses, assistant nurses, physicians, psychiatric nurses, medical laboratory workers and radiographers during the period 1971-1995.

Design: All 447 notified cases between 20 and 59 years of age were included.

A cost-effectiveness analysis of universal versus selective immunization with Mycobacterium bovis bacille Calmette-Guérin in Finland.

Setting: Mycobacterium bovis bacille Calmette-Gueŕin (BCG) is provided to all infants born in Finland.

Objective: To analyze the cost-effectiveness of universal versus selective BCG immunization.

Design: A Markov model was developed to simulate rates of tuberculosis (TB) and non-tuberculous mycobacterial disease (NTM), and to examine the cost-effectiveness in terms of cost per case averted of three different strategies: universal BCG, selective BCG (10% of infants at higher TB risk than other infants) or no BCG immunization.

Tuberculosis among health care workers during three recent decades.

Some studies have found that health care workers have an increased risk of tuberculosis, whereas other studies have reported the opposite. This study examined data of Finnish health care workers (HCWs) for the incidence of tuberculosis disease. Cases of occupational tuberculosis in Finland were analysed over a period of 30 yrs (1966-1995).

Clodronate is effective in preventing corticosteroid-induced bone loss among asthmatic patients.

Clodronate is a novel drug used for inhibiting osteoclastic activity. The aim of the present double-blind study was to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of clodronate (Leiras, Finland) in corticosteroid-induced bone loss among asthmatic patients. Seventy-four adult patients (41 women and 33 men, mean age 57.