Estado actual de la microbiología de la tuberculosis en América Latina

Abstract

1) By and large the fundamental shortcoming of tuberculosis microbiology in Latin America is the low level of population coverage by the services. There are excellent laboratories in the capital cities and some large towns, but tuberculosis control programs do not have sufficient resources in medium-sized towns and especially in rural areas

2) From the standpoint of the development of tuberculosis control programs four groups of countries may be distinguished with four different levels of coverage. There are also three or four groups of countries in which tuberculosis microbiology has reached different levels of development

3) In the countries studied, the level of development achieved by tuberculosis microbiology is much lower than that of other tuberculosis control activities

4) All the Latin American countries are sufficiently mature to appreciate the importance of the correct utilization of microbiology in tuberculosis control programs

5) It is widely held in Latin America that the position of Latin American countries differs, not only from that of developed countries, but also from that of less advanced countries. This particular and special position, which might be described as intermediate, must be taken into account in making recommendations about measures to be adopted to ensure better use of microbiology in tuberculosis control programs in Latin America

6) As a rule ...(AU)