THE LONG-TERM TREND IN PREVALENCE OF TUBERCULOSIS INFECTION IN CYPRUS.

Two tuberculin testing surveys have been carried out in schools in Cyprus by WHO teams, one in 1955 and one in 1963. It happens that three schools in Nicosia were included in both surveys, thus permitting a direct study of the time-trend in prevalence of tuberculosis infection; there are good reasons to believe that the techniques of the two surveys were sufficiently comparable for this purpose. In the 1955 survey, 42 children were found to be infected out of the 1532 who were tested and had their reactions read, while, in the 1963 survey, 24 children were found to be infected among 1680. The difference between the two rates is statistically significant at the 1% level, and it is concluded that tuberculosis infection is on the decline in Cyprus.