International Journal of Epidemiology 2002;31:934-939
© International Epidemiological Association 2002
Special Theme: Infectious Diseases |
Tuberculosis infection among young adults enlisting in the United States Navy
a Department of Defense Center for Deployment Health Research at the Naval Health Research Center, San Diego, CA, USA.
b Current affiliation: University of Iowa College of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology, Iowa City, IA, USA.
c Preventive Medicine Division, Naval Hospital, Great Lakes, IL, USA.
d Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Department of Preventive Medicine and Biometrics, Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Besa Smith, DoD Center for Deployment Health Research, PO Box 85122, Naval Health Research Center, San Diego, CA 92186–5122, USA. E-mail: besa{at}nhrc.navy.mil
Abstract
Background Tuberculosis (TB) is a re-emerging infectious disease threat worldwide. To protect the health and readiness of US military personnel, policies exist to screen for and treat latent TB infection at the time of service entrance. Results of this screening programme have not been recently described.
Methods Multivariate regression techniques were used to evaluate demographic and medical data associated with TB infection among all young adults entering US Navy enlisted service between 1 October 1997 and 30 September 1998.
Results A total of 44 128 adults (ages 17–35, 81% male) were screened for TB during this 12-month period. The prevalence of latent TB infection was 3.5%. Place of birth was very strongly associated with TB infection, with foreign-born recruits eight times more likely to have a reactive tuberculin skin test or history of infection. Those who reported their race as ‘Asian/Pacific Island’ had 3.8 times the odds of having evidence of TB infection compared with ‘Caucasian’ recruits, even after adjusting for place of birth.
Conclusions The prevalence of TB infection among Navy recruits was last reported as 2.5% nearly 10 years ago. The apparent increase to 3.5% in this large cohort is likely due to a concurrent increase in the number of foreign-born recruits, and it serves to underscore the importance of comprehensive screening and treatment of latent TB infections in this population.
Keywords Tuberculosis, PPD, tuberculin skin testing
Accepted 1 February 2002
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