Cigarette smoking appears to be a risk factor for tuberculosis infection, according to findings from review of the literature and pooled analysis of studies.Kirk R Smith,of the University of California,Berkeley,and colloeagues searched eight databases for relevant articles on the topic and identified 24 that met their inclusion criteria. Taken together, the data point to a marked increased the relative risk of TB infection and disease among current and former smokers compared with nonsmokers. There did not appear to be an increased relative risk for death from TB in association with smoking in people with active tuberculosis,the researchers said.