Screening for tuberculosis among homeless shelter staff.

Abstract

The prevalence of tuberculosis (TB) among homeless shelter staff was assessed using the tuberculin skin test (TST) and the Quantiferon TB-Gold in tube interferon-γ release assay (QFT-TB). Investigation of 51 participants for whom both QFT-TB and TST results were available showed 47.1% and 43.1% positivity, respectively, with excellent (92%) concordance between the 2 tests. The high risk for acquiring occupational TB necessitates the development of TB surveillance protocols for homeless shelter staff in Italy.

• Authors: Simona Di Renzi, Paola Tomao, Agnese Martini, Silvia Capanna, Luca Rubino, Wanda D'Amico, Fabio Tomei, Paolo Visca, Nicoletta Vonesch
• Journal: American journal of infection control (Am J Infect Control) Vol. 40 Issue 5 Pg. 459-61 (Jun 2012) ISSN: 1527-3296 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 21958841 (Publication Type: Journal Article)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2012 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Topics

• Adult
• Aged
• Emergency Shelter
• Female
• Ill-Housed Persons
• Humans
• Interferon-gamma Release Tests
• Italy (epidemiology)
• Male
• Mass Screening
• Middle Aged
• Occupational Exposure
• Prevalence
• Risk Assessment
• Tuberculin Test
• Tuberculosis (epidemiology)
• Workforce