Tuberculosis through history: an enemy of mankind

Abstract

Introduction: Tuberculosis is an infectious-contagious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which represents a serious health problem. The man´s fight against this disease has been evidenced through history. He has demonstrated his desire to control it and the damage it has caused such as uncountable deaths regardless race, age, and social classes; mainly affecting the dispossessed.Objective: To describe some general aspects that characterize the history of tuberculosis and its negative effect on man´s health, specify the fight of health care centers worldwide against this disease, and present prevention and control measures used in Cuba.Material and methods: A bibliographic review was carried out during the period between May and June, 2015. Impact factor journals from the Web of Sciences (43 journals), and Cuban journals were evaluated. Reference databases such as MEDLINE, PubMed, and SciELO were consulted using some descriptors such as “pulmonary tuberculosis”, and “tuberculosis infection”. Articles in English and Spanish languages were included, as well as publications of the last 5 years. A total of 55 articles were obtained, and the study was limited to 27 ones that focused these topics in a more comprehensive way.Conclusions: Tuberculosis is a very old disease and, despite the scientific and social progress achieved, it continues being an imminent danger to health. The development of programs and health services for best actions in the fight against this disease is a political commitment of all nations. Keywords: Tuberculosis, sanitary emergency, health problem, old disease, prevention and control, imminent danger.