Asbestos and tuberculosis in Trieste, Italy.
The distribution of counts of asbestos bodies in lung specimens from 25 persons dying of fibrocaseous tuberculosis was essentially identical to that in age- and sex-matched control subjects. Although tuberculosis mortality has been elevated in the past in cohorts of asbestos workers, asbestos exposure at environmental levels found in a region with a history of heavy asbestos use appears to be unassociated with risk of tuberculosis. Potentiation of the risk of death from tuberculosis may require both a high risk of tuberculosis in the general community and intense personal exposure to asbestos.
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001194:Asbestos; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008168:Lung / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000473:pathology; D012306:Risk; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*
D001194:Asbestos