INTRODUCTION The risk of tuberculosis (TB) in healthcare personnel (HCP) is related to its incidence in the general population. Healthcare students involved in clinical training could be exposed to occupational risks similar to those that HCP face. The prevalence of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) among undergraduate healthcare students with different working seniority in Italy was analyse...

1Department of Internal Medicine; 2Department of Family Medicine, King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Received: 25/10/01; accepted: 14/02/02 ABSTRACT Tuberculosis is both a nosocomial and an occupational infection. The prevalence of positive tuberculin skin reactions at King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Saudi Arabia, was investigated by testing 298 health care workers. C...

Comprehensive new guidelines for screening, targeted testing, and treating latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) in children and adolescents are presented. The recent epidemiology of TB and data on risk factors for LTBI are reviewed. The evidence-based recommendations provided emphasize the paradigm that children and adolescents should be screened for risk factors by using a risk-factor question...

Diagnostic testing for tuberculosis has remained unchanged for nearly a century, but newer technologies hold the promise of a true revolution in tuberculosis diagnostics. New tests may well supplant the tuberculin skin test in diagnosing latent tuberculosis infection in much of the world. Tests such as the nucleic acid amplification assays allow more rapid and accurate diagnosing of pulmonary a...

Responses to four new tuberculins were found to be significantly reduced in 46 patients with rheumatoid arthritis in comparison with a control group of 79. Except for tuberculin itself, the same was found in 111 patients with tuberculosis. In common with patients with tuberculosis and leprosy, those with rheumatoid arthritis did not respond to common mycobacterial (group i) antigen. Three DR ha...

It is a sad state of affairs when international efforts to control the number-one infectious killer worldwide must rely heavily on a suboptimal diagnostic test developed over 100 years ago and improved upon minimally in the subsequent century. In this month's Journal, Dr. Rangel-Frausto and colleagues add to accumulating evidence reinforcing the pressing need to develop a workable alternative t...

adoption of suitable preventive measures have considerably brought down the incidence of the disease within recent years in several countries in Europe. The importance of the study is now being felt by the leading members of our profession who think about the future of our race, for this fell disease invalidates or carries away individuals when they are most likely to be useful to society (i.e....

BACKGROUND Effective tuberculosis (TB) control requires accurate diagnostic methods but the tuberculin skin test has serious limitations. Both false-negative and false-positive reactions are common, resulting in the spread of the infection and devastating TB outbreaks. Results of questionnaire surveys concerning TB testing practices in primate housing facilities showed great differences in test...

To the Editor: In their review article, Getahun et al. (May 28 issue)1 provide a useful overview of issues surrounding latent tuberculosis infection. However, newly published data regarding the performance of the T-SPOT.TB assay call into question the supposition that false conversions and reversions are more common with interferon-γ release assays (IGRAs) than with tuberculin skin tests.2 Spec...

Comprehensive new guidelines for screening, targeted testing, and treating latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) in children and adolescents are presented. The recent epidemiology of TB and data on risk factors for LTBI are reviewed. The evidence-based recommendations provided emphasize the paradigm that children and adolescents should be screened for risk factors by using a risk-factor question...