Tuberculosis and tobacco
Efforts to control two related global epidemics
Associations between tobacco use and tuberculosis (TB) outcomes have long been suspected but
until recently the predominant view was that existing studies were not adequate to provide confirmation
of any link. However, more recent studies and some recent reviews of existing studies have
seemed to provide a better-evidenced link between active and passive tobacco smoking and a range
of TB outcomes including infection, response to treatment, relapse rates and mortality.