Tuberculosis in ageing: high rates, complex diagnosis and poor clinical outcomes.

Background: worldwide, the frequency of tuberculosis among older people almost triples that observed among young adults.

Objective: to describe clinical and epidemiological consequences of pulmonary tuberculosis among older people.

Methods: we screened persons with a cough lasting more than 2 weeks in Southern Mexico from March 1995 to February 2007.

Indoor pollution as an occupational risk factor for tuberculosis among women: a population-based, gender oriented, case-control study in Southern Mexico.

Background: Indoor air pollution produced by biomass cooking fuels in developing countries has been associated with acute and chronic lower respiratory diseases, but has not been identified as an occupational exposure among women.

Objective: To examine the relationship between the use of biomass cooking fuels (mainly wood) and tuberculosis (TB) among women living in rural areas in Southern Mexico.

Methods: We conducted a population based case-control study in the health jurisdiction of Orizaba, Mexico.

[Research on conventional and molecular epidemiology of tuberculosis in Orizaba, Veracruz, 1995-2008].

This study describes the achievements of the Mexican Consortium against Tuberculosis, in the Sanitary District of Orizaba, Veracruz, Mexico between 1995 and 2008. In brief, the main results can be classified as follows: 1) Conventional and molecular epidemiology (measurement of burden of disease, trends, risk factors and vulnerable groups, consequences of drug resistance, identification of factors that favor nosocomial and community transmission); 2) Development of diagnostic techniques to detect drug resistance, description of circulating clones and adaptation of simple techniques to be used in the field; 3) Evaluation of usefulness of tuberculin skin test, immunologic responses to BCG, impact of directly observed therapy for tuberculosis (DOTS), and study of immunological biomarkers and 4) Comments on ethical aspects of tuberculosis research. Additionally, we describe the impact on public policies, transference of technology, capacity building and future perspectives.