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The indicators used in the struggle against tuberculosis, particularly in developing countries, can be separated into two groups. First, the variables, are indicators of the overall damage caused by the disease in the community. Secondly, the parameters, are the calculated indicators of the risk for tuberculosis faced by the individual. Their presentation here follows the pragmatic concerns of the coordinators of the programs: evaluating the scale of the tuberculosis problem; ensuring its surveillance and the supervision of a prevention program; and diffusing the information required to stir the program workers and the population into action to fight tuberculosis. Among the variables, the incidence of mortality lost significance. The emphasis is now on the incidence of the new cases of contagious pulmonary tuberculosis as well as the calculation of the Annual Risk of Infection (ARI). The ARI, despite serious criticisms, remains one of the best indicators for the study of tuberculosis. The data obtained from an active program must be standardized to allow comparisons of the declared cases as well as their follow-up after the initiation of the treatment. The parameters enable a mathematical representation of the different stages in the natural development of the disease: the risk to be infected; the risk of becoming ill; and the development of the illness. These parameters can be advantageously used to mobilize the people into action. The pandemic of HIV drastically changed the natural history of tuberculosis. HIV infection is the most important factor of the transition from tuberculosis infection to active tuberculosis. The HIV pandemic also modified the epidemiological estimations of tuberculosis. In particular, it reinforced the criticisms made against the ARI. The surveillance of the prevalence of HIV among tuberculosis patients is thus important data.
AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗