Is screening for tuberculosis acceptable to immigrants? A qualitative study

P. Brewin1, A. Jones2, M. Kelly3, M. McDonald4, E. Beasley4, P. Sturdy5, G. Bothamley1,C. Griffiths5Background Screening of immigrants has been a widespread response to the global resurgence of tuberculosis but has been criticized as discriminatoryand stigmatising. Acceptability is an essential but neglected ethical prerequisite of screening programmes, particularly those targeting vulnerablegroups such as refugees. No data exist concerning acceptability of tuberculosis screening. We therefore e ...

Tuberculosis in pregnancy – Case studies and a review of Australia’s screening process

Fergus P. McCARTHY,1 Shelley ROWLANDS1 and Michelle GILES21Obstetrics Department and 2Infectious Diseases, Royal Women’s Hospital, Carlton, Victoria, AustraliaAbstractFew changes have occurred in the management of tuberculosis over the past two decades and many of the recentdevelopments are in the area of diagnostics. The application of these to the pregnant population is not yet established.Two cases recently managed at the Royal Women’s Hospital, Melbourne highlight the need for cl ...

From contact investigation to tuberculosis screening of drug addicts and homeless persons in Rotterdam

Background: In early 2001 there were indications that tuberculosis (TB) was increasingly becoming aproblem among drug addicts and homeless persons in Rotterdam, after a periodical screening wasdiscontinued in 1997. A contact investigation around a homeless drug addicted man in Rotterdamwith infectious pulmonary TB is described. Contact investigation: A total of 507 drug addicts, homelesspersons, and staff of facilities for these risk groups were examined with tuberculin skin testing (TST) andche ...

Identification of tuberculosis cases by port health screening in Essex 1997–2003

Sally Millership and Amelia Cummins AbstractBetween 1997 and 2003 an annual average of 1867 newentrants seen at the port of arrival were notified to thecommunicable disease teams who now form the EssexHealth Protection Unit. We examined the number of individualswho made contact with health services by linkingport health and tuberculosis databases with combinationsof surname, forename and date of birth the number of newentrants developing tuberculosis. We also searched paperrecords for all incide ...

Using Computerized Clinical Decision Support for Latent Tuberculosis Infection Screening

Andy W. Steele, MD, MPH, Sheri Eisert, PhD, Art Davidson, MD, MPH, Taylor Sandison, MD, Pat Lyons,Nedra Garrett, Patricia Gabow, MD, Eduardo Ortiz, MD, MPHBackground: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has published guidelines recommendingscreening high-risk groups for latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI). The goal ofthis study was to determine the impact of computerized clinical decision support andguided web-based documentation on screening rates for LTBI.Design: Nonrandomize ...

Screening of Immigrants and Refugees for Pulmonary Tuberculosis in San Diego County, California

Study objectives: To evaluate the outcomes of a tuberculosis (TB) screening program for recentimmigrants to San Diego County, CA, and to compare the demographic and clinical characteristicsof pulmonary TB cases occurring in recently arrived foreign-born persons detected throughthis screening with those of similar cases found through routine surveillance.Design: Retrospective review of computer databases and medical records.Setting: Local public health department.Patients: Recent immigrants and r ...

Factors influencing health care workers’ adherence to work site tuberculosis screening and treatment policies

Heather A. Joseph, MPH,a Robin Shrestha-Kuwahara, MPH,a Diane Lowry, MPH, MSW,a Lauren A. Lambert, MPH,aAdelisa L. Panlilio, MD, MPH,b Beth G. Raucher, MD, MSHCM,c James M. Holcombe, MPPA,d Jan Poujade, RN, MS,eDiane M. Rasmussen, RN,f and Maureen Wilce, MSaAtlanta, Georgia, New York, New York, Jackson, Mississippi, Portland, Oregon, and Kansas City, MissouriBackground: Despite the known risk of tuberculosis (TB) to health care workers (HCWs), research suggests that many are not fullyadherent wi ...

Contact tracing and population screening for tuberculosis – who should be assessed?

Abstract Benjamin R. Underwood, Veronica L. C. White, Tim Baker, Malcolm Lawand John C. Moore-Gillon Background The aim of the study was to investigate therelative effectiveness of four strategies in detecting and preventingtuberculosis: contact tracing of smear-positive pulmonarydisease, of smear-negative pulmonary disease andof non-pulmonary disease, and screening new entrants.Methods An analysis of patient records and a TB databasewas carried out for an NHS Trust-based tuberculosis servicein ...

An evaluation of completeness of tuberculosis notification in the United Kingdom

AbstractBackground: There has been a resurgence of tuberculosis worldwide, mainly in developingcountries but also affecting the United Kingdom (UK), and other Western countries. The controlof tuberculosis is dependent on early identification of cases and timely notification to public healthdepartments to ensure appropriate treatment of cases and screening of contacts. Tuberculosis iscompulsorily notifiable in the UK, and the doctor making or suspecting the diagnosis is legallyresponsible for not ...

Americans’ Knowledge and Perceived Risk of Tuberculosis

Abstract Tuberculosis (TB) has resurged as a major publichealth problem in the United States, but there is minimalinformation on the public’s knowledge of TB. The generalpopulation must become aware of the seriousness of thereemergence of TB. Using data from the National HealthInterview Survey Supplement, this study examined knowledgeand perceived risk of TB of 14,727 U.S. respondents. Resultsdemonstrated some general knowledge of TB, several misconceptions,and low concern regarding their ...