Counterattack of re-emerging tuberculosis after 38 years.

The recent tuberculosis prevalence rates in Japan have been among the highest in industrialised countries. In 1997 the number of newly identified tuberculosis patients in Japan increased for the first time in 38 years. There are many underlying reasons for this resurgence, including public ignorance of the threat, epidemiological factors, insufficient medical countermeasures, and inadequate public health measures against tuberculosis. Improving the situation will require urgent scientific and political action.