Tuberculosis (TB) incidence and types of housing settlement in Hong Kong

Abstract

High-rise living in Hong Kong is an inevitable fact of life. It has been postulated that occupants living on higher levels of a building would benefit from better ventilation and direct sunlight and thus less likely to contract infectious respiratory diseases. On the contrary, those on lower floors amid the dense clusters of high-rises are more susceptible to respiratory infection because of poorer air quality from street-level pollution and lesser exposure to direct sunlight. However, there have not been published studies to support these claims. As TB continues to threaten public health in Hong Kong, this study seeks to understand the effects of housing development on TB occurrences in an urban setting. Because of pressures from population growth and the scarcity of land resources, our results have significant public health implications for Asian cities that are pursuing high-rise and high density urban living.