# Tuberculosis cases in Portugal?



## Tony100 (Oct 20, 2011)

Hi!
I just read about tuberculosis and I'm so surprised that there are so many cases in Portugal!
Why are there so many cases in the Porto and Lisbon areas? Any idea? How good is the health system in Portugal?
Thank you!


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## canoeman (Mar 3, 2011)

No idea, but people with cold type illnesses often wear surgical masks, health service in my experience excellent


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## loonytoon (Feb 11, 2009)

you would probably be surprised at the number of TB cases in the UK as well. they are usually concentrated in the larger cities for simple reasons that are nothing to do with the quality of the health services. it is because most TB cases are in immigrants who tend to be found in greater numbers in the cities. they usually bring the TB with them. the "home grown" TB cases tend to be in those with poor social circumstances (relatively common in the homeless) - probably related to a mixture of crowded, poor living conditions, malnutrition, general ill health etc. TB is also quite difficult to treat due to several factors including the length of treatment (people move on and get lost to the system), lack of compliance with the drugs as they can be quite unpleasant (plus the length of time they need to be taken - usually at least 6 months), resistance to the antibiotics etc etc. if you are in reasonable health and have reasonable living conditions it is actually unlikely that you would contract TB.

jeff


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