Tuberculosis morbidity in the U.S. Navy: its distribution and decline.

Abstract

During the period from 1958 through 1969, 1,216,425 United States Navy recruits were tested with 5 tuberculin units of PPD-S on entry into the service. Slightly more than 5 per cent were tuberculin reactors at that time. Tuberculosis developing among these men during the first 4 years of enlistment was related to their tuberculin sensitivity on entry, ethnic group, place of residence before entering the Navy, and history of contact with tuberculosis. Tuberculosis case rates decreased during the period of the study. The decrease was marked for nonreactors, but was inconsistent and less marked for reactors. A majority of the men with tuberculosis had symptoms at the time of discovery, in spite of intensive efforts to achieve annual screening for all personnel. The incidence of tuberculosis was highest for Asians who were mostly Filipinos, intermediate for blacks, and lowest for whites. There were no significant differences in case rates between metropolitan, nonmetropolitan, and farm residents when stratifi...