Prevalence of latent tuberculosis infection among tuberculosis laboratory workers in Iran

Epidemiology and Health

Saeed Sharafi¹  Mahshid Nasehi¹  Amin Doosti-Irani²  Ehsan Mostafavi³  Abdolrazagh Hashemi-Shahraki³ 

[1] Center for Communicable Diseases Control, Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Tehran, Iran;Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran;Research Centre for Emerging and Reemerging Infectious Diseases, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran;

关键词: Tuberculin test;    Latent tuberculosis;    Prevalence;    Health personnel;    Iran;   

DOI  :  10.4178/epih.e2017002

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

OBJECTIVES The risk of transmission of Mycobacterium tuberculosis from patients to health care workers (HCWs) is a neglected problem in many countries, including Iran. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of latent tuberculosis (TB) infection (LTBI) among TB laboratory staff in Iran, and to elucidate the risk factors associated with LTBI. METHODS All TB laboratory staff (689 individuals) employed in the TB laboratories of 50 Iranian universities of medical sciences and a random sample consisting of 317 low-risk HCWs were included in this cross-sectional study. Participants with tuberculin skin test indurations of 10 mm or more were considered to have an LTBI. RESULTS The prevalence of LTBI among TB laboratory staff and low-risk HCWs was 24.83% (95% confidence interval [CI], 21.31 to 27.74%) and 14.82% (95% CI, 11.31 to 19.20%), respectively. No active TB cases were found in either group. After adjusting for potential confounders, TB laboratory staff were more likely to have an LTBI than low-risk HCWs (prevalence odds ratio, 2.06; 95% CI, 1.35 to 3.17). CONCLUSIONS This study showed that LTBI are an occupational health problem among TB laboratory staff in Iran. This study reinforces the need to design and implement simple, effective, and affordable TB infection control programs in TB laboratories in Iran.

【 授权许可】

Unknown