Tuberculosis among Healthcare Workers in Southeastern China: A Retrospective Study of 7-Year Surveillance Data

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Bin Chen¹  Xiaomeng Wang²  Jiemin Zhong²  Songhua Chen²  Beibei Wu²  Hui-Chi Yeh³  Zhenggang Jiang¹  Zhengting Wang¹  Hua Gu¹  Jianmin Jiang¹ 

[1] Department of Science Research Management, Zhejiang Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Hangzhou 310051, China; E-Mails:;Department of Tuberculosis Control and Prevention, Zhejiang Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Hangzhou 310051, China; E-Mails:;Politics & International Relations, Social Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK; E-Mail:

关键词: tuberculosis (TB);    healthcare workers (HCWs);    surveillance;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijerph111112042

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

The baseline prevalence and characteristics of tuberculosis (TB) among general healthcare workers (HCWs) in southeastern China remains unknown. We conducted a retrospective study based on the TB surveillance data in Zhejiang Province from 2005 to 2011, which were extracted from the national Tuberculosis Information Management System (TIMS). We calculated and compared annual notification rates of different occupational groups and analyzed the epidemiological and clinical characteristics. The annual TB notification rates among general HCWs declined steadily from 2005 to 2011. On average, HCWs showed annual TB notification rates lower than the general population but higher than teachers. Recorded HCW TB patients averaged 35.5 years of age, with females outnumbering males (58.0% > 42.0%). The proportion of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) was higher among male than in the female patients (88.5% > 83.4%, P = 0.031). Our study suggested that general HCWs run a higher occupational risk than teachers although the two groups are socioeconomically comparable and that the priority should be given to the young female HCWs for TB prevention in healthcare institutions.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.