INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND
History
At the beginning of the 20th century, as throughout much of recorded history, TB was one of the leading causes of death.3 Historically, TB has been identified clinically and managed incompletely, for thousands of years. Hippocrates provided a description of clinically active pulmonary TB (PTB)more than 2,300 years ago and noted that it was “the most considerable of the diseases which then prevailed and the only one which proved fatal to many persons”.4 Known historically as consumption, or phthisis as described by ancient Greek and Roman scribes, TB infection is described even in the Christian Bible; Deuteronomy 28:22,which notes the high mortality associated with the disease. PTB was attributed a mortality rate of 1,120 deaths per 100,000 persons in London in