Cohort study determines high prevalence and conversion rates of tuberculosis infection in healthcare workers, indicating strong need for improved diagnostics.
Key Points
This study aims to assess the prevalence and conversion rates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection among healthcare workers in a TB treatment hospital.
Conducted a prospective cohort study with 178 healthcare workers at UANL from 2017 to 2019.
Participants were tested at baseline using QuantiFERON-TB Gold Plus and Tuberculin Skin Test.
Those testing negative were retested 4-18 months later to check for conversion to infection.
Baseline prevalence of tuberculosis infection was found to be 63.5%.
Males, nurses, and administrative staff exhibited higher odds of infection.
Approximately 30.8% of negative baseline participants converted to infection at follow-up.
There was fair agreement between the QuantiFERON and Tuberculin Skin Test results.