ArticleThe European respiratory journal2015
Incidence of occupational latent tuberculosis infection in South African healthcare workers.
Article in The European respiratory journal, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT05847491 (Latent Tuberculosis in Healthcare Workers - the Reality of a Portuguese Tertiary Hospital), which is not on this map. Cited by 28 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Latent Tuberculosis in Healthcare Workers - the Reality of a Portuguese Tertiary Hospital
Who cites it
28 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Effectiveness of control measures to prevent occupational tuberculosis infection in health care workers: a systematic review.BMC public health · 2018Pooled it
- The epidemiology of tuberculosis in health care workers in South Africa: a systematic review.BMC health services research · 2016Pooled it
- Prevalence of Latent Tuberculosis among Health Care Workers in High Burden Countries: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.PloS one · 2016Pooled it
- Association of clinical laboratory parameters with latent tuberculosis infection among healthcare workers of primary health centers-A cross-sectional observational study.PLOS global public health · 2025Article
- Article
- Prevalence of Latent Tuberculosis Infection and its Associated Factors Among Diabetic Patients Availing Primary Health Care in Terengganu State, Malaysia.Oman medical journal · 2023Article
- Upregulation of PD-1 expression on circulating CD8+ but not CD4+ T cells is associated with tuberculosis infection in health care workers.BMC immunology · 2021Article
- Observational
- Tuberculosis infection status and risk factors among health workers: an updated systematic review.Annals of occupational and environmental medicine · 2021Review
- A position statement and practical guide to the use of particulate filtering facepiece respirators (N95, FFP2, or equivalent) for South African health workers exposed to respiratory pathogens includingAfrican journal of thoracic and critical care medicine · 2021Review
- Prevalence of latent tuberculosis infection among health workers in Afghanistan: A cross-sectional study.PloS one · 2021Article
- Occupational Tuberculosis Among Laboratory Workers in South Africa: Applying a Surveillance System to Strengthen Prevention and Control.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Article
- Perceived Health System Barriers to Tuberculosis Control Among Health Workers in South Africa.Annals of global health · 2020Article
- The Prevalence and Demographic Risk Factors for Latent Tuberculosis Infection (LTBI) Among Healthcare Workers in Semarang, Indonesia.Journal of multidisciplinary healthcare · 2020Article
- Evaluating Latent Tuberculosis Infection Test Performance Using Latent Class Analysis in a TB and HIV Endemic Setting.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2019Article
- Tuberculosis infection risk, preventive therapy care cascade and incidence of tuberculosis disease in healthcare workers at Maputo Central Hospital.BMC infectious diseases · 2019Article
- Diverse approaches to preventing occupational tuberculosis in health workers: cross-disciplinary or cross purposes?Public health action · 2019Article
- Predictors of discordant latent tuberculosis infection test results amongst South African health care workers.BMC infectious diseases · 2019Article
- Continuity of care for TB patients at a South African hospital: A qualitative participatory study of the experiences of hospital staff.PloS one · 2019Article
- Isolation measures and protection awareness are significant for latent tuberculosis infection: a cross-sectional study based on T-SPOT.TB among health care workers in China.Epidemiology and infection · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
The test-specific incidence of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) in healthcare workers from sub-Saharan Africa is unknown. 505 healthcare workers from South Africa were screened at baseline, and after 12 months, with a questionnaire, the tuberculin skin test (TST), and two T-cell assays (T-SPOT.TB and QuantiFERON-TB Gold-In-Tube). Test-specific conversion rates were calculated. The prevalence of presumed LTBI at baseline was 84, 69 and 62% using the TST, QuantiFERON-TB Gold-In-Tube and T-SPOT.TB, respectively. The annual test-specific conversion rate, depending on the cut-off point used, was as follows: TST 38%; QuantiFERON-TB Gold-In-Tube 13-22%; and T-SPOT.TB 18-22%. Annual reversion rates were 4, 7 and 16%, respectively. The annual TST conversion rate was significantly higher than that derived from published local community-based data (IRR 3.53, 95% CI 1.81-6.88). Factors associated with conversion (any test) included healthcare sector of employment, counselling of tuberculosis patients, and a baseline positive TST (for T-SPOT.TB). The annual rate of tuberculosis infection in South African healthcare workers was very high, irrespective of the testing method used, and may be explained by occupational exposure, as the rate was considerably higher than non-healthcare workers from the same community. Collectively, these data support the need for implementation of tuberculosis-specific infection control measures in Africa.
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