Molecular answers to tuberculous questions

Diagnosis and treatment of individual patients with tuberculosis may not differ substantially between more-developed and less-developed countries, but the differences in case-load, resources and management result in a huge divide between the two. Discusses the rising incidence of tuberculosis in Western Cape, South Africa, and suggests that many beliefs about the disease, formulated from observational studies in the more-developed world, may not necessarily be true in high-incidence communities. Calls for observational and mechanistic studies to be done in developing countries, and argues that the developing world is the sensible place for the study of epidemiology through host genetics and immunology to drug and vaccine trials. (Quotes from original text)