PEDIATRICS Vol. 62 No. 2 August 1978, pp. 269-271
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Tuberculosis among children in the United States: 1978

Edwin L. Kendig Jr. M.D.1

1 Department of Pediatrics, Medical College of Virginia 5801 Bremo Road Richmond, VA 23226

Tuberculosis mortality in the United States has declined sharply during the past three quarters of a century, from 200 per 100,000 population in 1900 to 1.8 per 100,000 population in 1974.1 The number of persons infected with tuberculosis has decreased proportionately. Whereas even 40 years ago the rate of tuberculin sensitivity among youths of high school age (15 to 19 years) was approximately 32%, a 1958 to 1969 survey of more than a million Navy recruits 17 to 21 years of age showed that only slightly more than 5% were reactors.2

From these statistics it would appear that eradication of tuberculosis in the United States is imminent.