Editing Tuberculosis (section)

=== At-risk groups ===

Tuberculosis is closely linked to both overcrowding and [[malnutrition]], making it one of the principal [[diseases of poverty]].<ref name="Lawn-2011" /> Those at high risk thus include: people who inject illicit drugs, inhabitants and employees of locales where vulnerable people gather (e.g., prisons and homeless shelters), medically underprivileged and resource-poor communities, high-risk ethnic minorities, children in close contact with high-risk category patients, and health-care providers serving these patients.<ref name="Griffith_1996">{{cite journal|vauthors=Griffith DE, Kerr CM|date=August 1996|title=Tuberculosis: disease of the past, disease of the present|journal=Journal of PeriAnesthesia Nursing|volume=11|issue=4|pages=240–45|doi=10.1016/S1089-9472(96)80023-2|pmid=8964016}}</ref>

The rate of tuberculosis varies with age. In Africa, it primarily affects adolescents and young adults.<ref>{{cite web|title=Global Tuberculosis Control Report, 2006 – Annex 1 Profiles of high-burden countries|url=https://www.who.int/tb/publications/global_report/2006/pdf/full_report_correctedversion.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090726124358/http://www.who.int/tb/publications/global_report/2006/pdf/full_report_correctedversion.pdf|archive-date=26 July 2009|access-date=13 October 2006|publisher=World Health Organization (WHO)}}</ref> However, in countries where incidence rates have declined dramatically (such as the United States), tuberculosis is mainly a disease of the elderly and [[immunocompromise]]d (risk factors are listed above).<ref name="Kumar-2007" /><ref>{{cite web|date=12 September 2006|title=2005 Surveillance Slide Set|url=https://www.cdc.gov/nchstp/tb/pubs/slidesets/surv/surv2005/default.htm|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061123122326/http://www.cdc.gov/nchstp/tb/pubs/slidesets/surv/surv2005/default.htm|archive-date=23 November 2006|access-date=13 October 2006|publisher=Centers for Disease Control and Prevention}}</ref> Worldwide, 22 "high-burden" states or countries together experience 80% of cases as well as 83% of deaths.<ref name="Kielstra-2014" />

In Canada and Australia, tuberculosis is many times more common among the [[Indigenous peoples]], especially in remote areas.<ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=FitzGerald JM, Wang L, Elwood RK|date=February 2000|title=Tuberculosis: 13. Control of the disease among aboriginal people in Canada|journal=[[Canadian Medical Association Journal]]|volume=162|issue=3|pages=351–55|pmc=1231016|pmid=10693593}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| vauthors = Quah SR, Carrin G, Buse K, Heggenhougen K |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IEXUrc0tr1wC&pg=PA424|title=Health Systems Policy, Finance, and Organization|publisher=Academic Press|year=2009|isbn=978-0-12-375087-7|location=Boston|page=424 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906220918/https://books.google.com/books?id=IEXUrc0tr1wC&pg=PA424|archive-date=6 September 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> Factors contributing to this include higher prevalence of predisposing health conditions and behaviours, and overcrowding and poverty. In some Canadian Indigenous groups, genetic susceptibility may play a role.<ref name="Narasimhan_2013" />

Socioeconomic status (SES) strongly affects TB risk. People of low SES are both more likely to contract TB and to be more severely affected by the disease. Those with low SES are more likely to be affected by risk factors for developing TB (e.g., malnutrition, indoor air pollution, HIV co-infection, etc.), and are additionally more likely to be exposed to crowded and poorly ventilated spaces. Inadequate healthcare also means that people with active disease who facilitate spread are not diagnosed and treated promptly; sick people thus remain in the infectious state and (continue to) spread the infection.<ref name="Narasimhan_2013" />