Human Mycobacterium bovis infection in ten Latin American countries.

The aim of this work was to obtain the best possible estimate of the relevance of bovine tuberculosis (BTB) in humans in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela. Sources of information were a questionnaire filled by the participant laboratories, and a search of published literature (1970-2007). Only four of these countries reported bacteriologically confirmed cases of BTB in humans.

DOTS implementation in a middle-income country: development and evaluation of a novel approach.

Background: DOTS is widely accepted as the most cost-effective strategy for tuberculosis (TB) control. However, there is little published information regarding methods for implementation in middle-income countries.

Methods: Over 3 years, the Canadian Lung Association assisted the Ecuadorian TB programme to implement DOTS for over half the nation's total population.

Relationships between serum concentrations of C-reactive protein and micronutrients, in patients with tuberculosis.

Studies on the serum concentrations of micronutrients in tuberculosis (TB), and their relationship to the acute-phase response (APR), are scarce. The serum concentrations of zinc, copper, selenium and vitamins A and E in 46 smear-positive cases of pulmonary TB (PTB) from Ecuador were therefore compared with those in 10 healthy Ecuadorian volunteers, and the correlations between these concentrations and the serum concentration of C-reactive protein (CRP) were evaluated. Compared with the healthy volunteers, the PTB cases had significantly lower serum concentrations of zinc, retinol and selenium and significantly higher serum concentrations of copper.