Tuberculosis among health care workers during three recent decades

• Published in: The European respiratory journal Vol. 15; no. 2; pp. 304 - 307
• Main Authors: Raitio, M, Tala, E
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Sheffield Eur Respiratory Soc 01-02-2000; Munksgaard International Publishers; Maney
• Subjects: Adult; Bacterial diseases; BCG Vaccine; Biological and medical sciences; Female; Finland - epidemiology; Health care workers; Health Personnel; Human bacterial diseases; Humans; Incidence; Infectious diseases; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Occupational Diseases - epidemiology; Risk Factors; Tuberculosis and atypical mycobacterial infections; tuberculosis incidence; tuberculosis risk; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary - epidemiology; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary - prevention & control; Europe; Finland; Human; Exploration; Mycobacterial infection; Occupational exposure; Epidemiology; Incidence; Infection; Tuberculosis; Risk factor; Bacteriosis; Evolution; Health worker; Public health
• ISSN: 0903-1936; 1399-3003
• DOI: 10.1034/j.1399-3003.2000.15b14.x

Some studies have found that health care workers have an increased risk of tuberculosis, whereas other studies have reported the opposite. This study examined data of Finnish health care workers (HCWs) for the incidence of tuberculosis disease.
Cases of occupational tuberculosis in Finland were analysed over a period of 30 yrs (1966–1995). Control subjects were all other incident tuberculosis cases at working age. The material thus obtained included 658 people with notified occupational tuberculosis, and 56,146 control cases. The authors studied incidence, and age specific rate, as well as their trends.
The incidence of tuberculosis among health care workers decreased from 57.9 to 6.1 per 100,000 and the corresponding figures among control subjects decreased from 156.8 to 9.1 per 100,000. The overall risk in health care workers was lower than in the general population throughout the study period. Analysis of age specific rates revealed no age group at increased risk. The reasons are multifactorial, among them the successful tuberculosis programme, and the lack of impact of such risk factors as immigration, human immunodeficiency virus infection and drug resistance; high coverage of bacille Calmette‐Guérin vaccination may also be a factor, although it is difficult to assess.