title: Tuberculosis and poverty.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine whether the historical link between tuberculosis and poverty still exists.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective study examining the notifications of all forms of tuberculosis by council ward over a six year period and correlating this with four indices of poverty; council housing, free school meals, the Townsend overall deprivation index, and the Jarman index.
  
  
  METHODS
  The 33 electoral wards of the city of Liverpool.
  
  
  METHODS
  344 residents of Liverpool with tuberculosis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The rate of tuberculosis was correlated with all measures of poverty, the strongest correlation being with the Jarman index (r = 0.73, p < 0.0001). This link was independent of the high rates of tuberculosis seen in ethnic minorities.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Tuberculosis remains strongly associated with poverty.
authors.affiliation: Aintree Chest Centre, Fazakerley Hospital, Liverpool.
authors.forename: D P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Spence
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hotchkiss
authors.forename: C S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: P D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Davies
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004739:England / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011203:Poverty; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology