Tuberculosis among Healthcare Workers, United States, 1995–2007

Abstract

Objective.We examined surveillance data to describe the epidemiology of tuberculosis (TB) among healthcare workers (HCWs) in the United States during the period 1995–2007.Design.Cross-sectional descriptive analysis of existing surveillance data.Setting and Participants.TB cases reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from the 50 states and the District of Columbia from 1995 through 2007.Results.Of the 200,744 reported TB cases in persons 18 years of age or older, 6,049 (3%) occurred in individuals who were classified as HCWs. HCWs with TB were more likely than other adults with TB to be women (unadjusted odds ratio [95% confidence interval], 4.1 [3.8–4.3]), be foreign born (1.3 [1.3–1.4]), have extrapulmonary TB (1.6 [1.5–1.7]), and complete TB treatment (2.5 [2.3–2.8]).Conclusions.Healthcare institutions may benefit from intensifying TB screening of HCWs upon hire, especially persons from countries with a high incidence of TB, and encouraging treatment for latent TB infection among HCWs to prevent progression to TB disease.