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  • Title: Screening of immigrants and refugees for pulmonary tuberculosis in San Diego County, California.
    Author: LoBue PA, Moser KS.
    Journal: Chest; 2004 Dec; 126(6):1777-82. PubMed ID: 15596673.
    Abstract:
    STUDY OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the outcomes of a tuberculosis (TB) screening program for recent immigrants to San Diego County, CA, and to compare the demographic and clinical characteristics of pulmonary TB cases occurring in recently arrived foreign-born persons detected through this screening with those of similar cases found through routine surveillance. DESIGN: Retrospective review of computer databases and medical records. SETTING: Local public health department. PATIENTS: Recent immigrants and refugees classified as TB suspects in their country of departure and foreign-born patients with active TB detected through routine surveillance. RESULTS: Five hundred seventy-one of 658 immigrants and refugees (87%) of completed screening. Thirty-nine subjects (7%) were found to have active TB, and 433 subjects (76%) were found to have latent TB. A diagnosis of active TB was associated with age of 25 to 44 years (odds ratio, 3.6; 95% confidence interval, 1.1 to 11.6) and A (odds ratio, 25.7; 95% confidence interval, 1.3 to 512.2) or B1 classifications (odds ratio, 4.3; 95% confidence interval, 1.5 to 12.5). Cases detected through screening comprised 12% of all reported foreign-born persons with active TB. Compared to other recently arrived foreign-born persons with active TB, those detected through immigrant screening were more likely to be Asian and born in the Philippines and less likely to have advanced disease. CONCLUSIONS: Most immigrants and refugees classified as TB suspects by foreign screening completed the US screening process, which had a high yield for detecting active and latent TB. Only a minority of foreign-born persons (12%) with active TB were discovered through this program, however, and additional measures are needed to facilitate early case finding in other foreign-born populations.
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