Immigration as epidemiological risk?. A debate on the tuberculosis evolution in Barcelona during the last decennium (1990-2000)

Abstract

Last decades have been subjected to an increasing process of globalisation in ideas, goods and people. Simultaneously, epidemic diseases supposed to be eradicated have reappeared and new diseases as the ebola fever, the AIDS or the bovine spongiform encephalopathy have emerged. Among these re-emergent diseases are malaria and tuberculosis. Both are serious sanitary problems for the actual planet inhabitants, and tuberculosis is going to be the main subject of this essay. The analysis of others problems, as free interchange of people, bears an especial interest for Spanish society which is suffering an important migratory process. The present research referred to Barcelona, tries to start a discussion, free of any prejudices, about the link between migratory movements and epidemic diseases.