Abstract

COSTA, Dina Czeresnia. Comentários sobre a tendência secular da tuberculose. Cad. Saúde Pública [online]. 1988, vol.4, n.4, pp. 398-406. ISSN 0102-311X.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0102-311X1988000400005.

This paper aims to review a discussion held by many authors on the secular tendency regarding the mortality of tuberculosis in different social formations. We observed that there was an agreement among the authors concerning 1) the influence of the improvement of the standard of living of the populations in the fall of the mortality related to the disease, and 2) the acceleration of this fall from the introduction of effective chemotherapy. Many authors also consider the hypothesis that an epidemic of the disease occured in the beginning of the 19th century in places such as England and Rio de Janeiro City via clearly distinct social conditioners, while there are others who do not work with this hypothesis in their attempts to explain the fluctuations in the "secular tendency" of the disease.