[An alternative for improving the diagnosis of smear-negative tuberculosis and other bronchopulmonary disorders in Cuba].

Objective: The diagnosis of tuberculosis in patients with negative acid-fast bacillus smears poses a challenge to both clinicians and public health authorities. In an attempt to aid diagnosis in such cases, an expert committee was established in Ciudad de La Habana, Cuba in 1995. The aim of this study was to describe the progress of the committee's work and the corresponding results for the period 1996 through 2003.

[Smear-negative pulmonary tuberculosis, peculiarities of its frequency in Cuba 1992-2002].

The percentage increase or reduction of the number of cases of tuberculosis and the incidence rates in the periods 1992-1994 and 1994-2002 were estimated. Of the total of 11,216 cases, 9737 (86.8%) were pulmonary tuberculosis, among them 30.

[Tuberculin reactivity among ninth-grade schoolchildren in the city of Havana, Cuba].

Objective: To determine the proportion of 14-year-old schoolchildren in the city of Havana, Cuba, with a positive tuberculin skin test, as an indicator of the prevalence of tuberculosis infection among them.

Methods: Using single-stage cluster sampling, 1 936 Mantoux (tuberculin) tests were carried out with ninth-grade students (cohort born in 1985) during the 1999- 2000 school year in 20 basic high schools randomly selected in Havana. The tests were performed according to the standard technique recommended by the World Health Organization, and they were read after 72 hours.