Epidemiology of Tuberculosis among Homeless Persons, Pereira, Risaralda, Colombia 2007-2010

Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the most important infectious diseases globally and its occurrence among risk groups —those with HIV/AIDS, indigenous populations, and individuals living in crowded conditions and/or extreme poverty such as homeless persons all the more 1-4. Within the world morbidity and mortality burden of TB, special consideration has been recently given to disease incidence among homeless persons, not only because they can be a risk, a source of transmission and a hub for persistent presence of the pathogen, but also for their varying clinical evolution and outcome 5-8. Despite the above, there are few published studies regarding TB among homeless persons in Latin America. Some isolated references can be found at Medline and Scopus from Brazil and Puerto Rico 9,10, but none from Colombia. In this country, only approaches to the social aspects 11 and public policies regarding TB among this population 12, have been reported