Superficial Papulonecrotic Tuberculid in the Negro

For more than a quarter of a century the incidence of active tuberculous disease in the Negro has been on the upgrade.1The Negro's lack of resistance to the tubercle bacillus is well known, and it is not surprising to find hematogenous dissemination much more frequently in this race.1Tuberculids are common in the Negro, and in my experience, twenty-three years at the Harlem Hospital, the papulonecrotic variety was noted more often than any other type. CLINICAL MANIFESTATIONS The superficial nature and the inclination toward diminutive lesions are characteristic of the eruption in the Negro. This type of lesion occurs independent of the nodular variety, but it is not unusual to see the two types occur coincidentally. Papulonecrotic tuberculid is not an entirely benign disease. While active tuberculous foci often remain obscure and complicating disease of other viscera is uncommon, still the incidence of tuberculous disease of vital organs