Topic: Modelling TB transmission in Pollsmoor Prison, Cape Town
Johnstone-Robertson et al. Tuberculosis in a South African prison – a transmission modelling analysis. S Afr Med J 2011; 101: 809-813.
Presenter: Pete Dodd, CMMID, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Chair: Richard White, CMMID, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Time: 5.15pm til 6.15pm (drinks after), 11 February 2013
Venue: LG81, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street
Dudley Lee was detained in Pollsmoor Prison in 1999. His case took more than four years to make its way through the courts. By the time he was released in 2004, having been found innocent, he had acquired TB.
With crowded cells, poor ventilation, high HIV prevalence, and poor healthcare, South African prisons, unsurprisingly, have appalling TB control.
This modelling paper was cited in Dudley Lee’s successful claim in the Constitutional Court for compensation. It attempts to predict the likely impact of interventions, such as better case finding or improved ventilation, on TB transmission in the prison.
Join us to discuss the value and limits of mathematical models, activism, disadvantage, environmental health and TB control in high burden institutional settings.
The paper is available here.
North London TB Journal Club 