TUBERCULOSIS AMONG NURSES IN AICHI PREFECTURE, JAPAN
2008 Volume 83 Issue 1 Pages 1-6
Details
2008 Volume 83 Issue 1 Pages 1-6
[Objectives] To elucidate TB transmission among nurses.
[Subjects and Methods] The subjects of this retrospective study were 1, 283 TB women aged 20-59 years registered in Aichi Prefecture between 1989 and 2003. All registration files were reviewed to identify their occupation and working places.
[Results] A total of 80 nurses were found amon g TB registers. Their age distribution was 45 (56. 2%) in 20-29 years, 15 (18. 8%) in 30-39 years, 14 (17. 5%) in 40-49 years, and 6 (7. 5%) in 50-59 years. The proportion of nurses aged 20-29 years decreased from 74. 2% in 1989-93 to 24. 0 % (p< 0. 001) in 1999-2003, while those aged 40-49 years increased from 2. 9% to 32. 0% (p< 0. 01). Regarding working places, 19 (23. 8%) were in 4 TB hospitals, 54 (67. 4%) in other 35 hospitals, 6 (7. 5%) in 6 clinics, and one (1. 3%) was in a home. The proportion of nurses in TB hospitals decreased from 31. 4% in 1989-1993 to 4. 0% (p< 0. 05) in 1999-2003. Out of 73 nurses working in hospitals, 58 (79. 5 %) were working in hospitals with more than 250 beds with an emergency department. TB incidence were 49. 1 per 100, 000 population among 73 nurses working in hospital, and 14. 3 among 6 nurses working in clinic, 39. 5 among total 80 nurses, and 13. 2 among 1, 203 women other than nurses. The relative risk was 3. 7 for hospital nurses, I. 1 for clinic nurses, and 3. 0 for whole 80 nurses.
[Conclusion] These findings suggest that TB incidence for nurses is 3-fold higher than age-matched women other than nurses, and that hospital nurses are infected with TB more frequently than clinic nurses.
