RESEARCH ARTICLE
Prevalence of Latent Tuberculosis Infection and Associated Risk Factors Among 1557 Nursing Students in a Context of Low Endemicity
Monica Lamberti*, 1, Rossella Uccello1, §, Maria Grazia Lourdes Monaco1, §, Mariarosaria Muoio1, §, Nicola Sannolo1, Paola Arena1, Gennaro Mazzarella2, Antonio Arnese1, Giuseppe La Cerra2
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2015Volume: 9
First Page: 10
Last Page: 14
Publisher ID: TONURSJ-9-10
DOI: 10.2174/1874434601509010010
Article History:
Received Date: 30/05/2014Revision Received Date: 23/07/2014
Acceptance Date: 09/08/2014
Electronic publication date: 27/02/2015
Collection year: 2015
open-access license: This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.
Abstract
Introduction:
The risk of tuberculosis (TBC) in nurses is related to its incidence in the general population. Nursing students involved in clinical training could be exposed to occupational risks similar to those of healthcare workers (HCWs). To better understand the epidemiology of nosocomial TBC among nurses in a context of low endemicity, we recruited a cohort of young nursing trainees at the Second University of Naples.
Methods:
A screening programme for LTBI in nursing students was conducted between January 2012 and December 2013, at the Second University of Naples, with clinical evaluations, tuberculin skin test (TST) and, in positive TST student, the interferon-g release assays (IGRA). Putative risk factors for LTBI were assessed by a standardized questionnaire.
Results:
1577 nursing students attending the Second University of Naples have been submitted to screening programme for TBC. 1575 have performed TST as first level test and 2 Quantiferon test (QFT). 19 students were TST positive and continued the diagnostic workup practicing QFT, that was positive in 1 student. Of the 2 subjects that have practiced QFT as first level test only 1 was positive. In 2 students positive to QFT test we formulated the diagnosis of LTBI by clinical and radiographic results.
Conclusion:
The prevalence of LTBI among nursing students in our study resulted very low. In countries with a low incidence of TBC, the screening programs of healthcare students can be useful for the early identification and treatment of the sporadic cases of LTBI.
