[Improving the diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis among the inmates of reformatory institutions of the Ministry of Home Affairs].

According to the data given by the authors, the tuberculosis morbidity rate in the populations under surveillance of the Ministry of Home Affairs was over that in the general population. High morbidity of such persons is often contributed to their antisocial way of life, and alcohol and drug addiction. Full coverage of these groups by means of X-ray screening, when they are held prisoners during the investigation period, makes it possible to detect all cases with active tuberculosis, to prevent the admission of undetected patients to the reformatory schools and thereby to stop the transmission of tuberculous infection. The observations should be conducted twice a year since these imprisoned groups may be recognized as being at high risk for tuberculosis. The clinical pattern of pulmonary tuberculosis is unfavorable in the convicted persons. Appropriate three-stage chemotherapy with the use of surgical interventions, if indicated permits one to achieve in the reformatory institutions of the Ministry of Home Affairs a high efficacy of treatment of ++newly-diagnosed pulmonary tuberculosis patients, which concurrently significantly decreases their epidemic danger for the general population when they are let free.