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Gerard Wijsmuller, MD
Tuberculosis Branch—NCDC Rockville, Md

JAMA. 1970;211(9):1546.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.—

Vaccination against infectious disease is intended to increase the natural resistance of those who are susceptible and at an appreciable risk of becoming infected. The decision whether or not to vaccinate requires, therefore, an evaluation of the risk of infection, the susceptibility of the exposed, and the efficacy of the vaccine. Where do we stand in tuberculosis with respect to these matters?

The risk of infection with tubercle bacilli in the United States has reached an alltime low. From direct observation of infection rates measured among Navy recruits¹ and those entering school² tested in the National School Testing Program, the present infection rate is calculated to be in the order of one per 2,000 per year and still decreasing. Thus, the chance that a child, born in 1970, will become infected during his lifetime is less than 2%. The decline in tuberculous infection is reflected . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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