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Screening for tuberculosis among homeless shelter staff
Simona Di Renzi1, Paola Tomao, Agnese Martini
1Italian Workers' Compensation Authority (INAIL), Department of Occupational Medicine, Rome, Italy.
Abstract:
The prevalence of tuberculosis (TB) among homeless shelter staff was assessed using the tuberculin skin test (TST) and the Quantiferon TB-Gold in tube interferon-γ release assay (QFT-TB). Investigation of 51 participants for whom both QFT-TB and TST results were available showed 47.1% and 43.1% positivity, respectively, with excellent (92%) concordance between the 2 tests. The high risk for acquiring occupational TB necessitates the development of TB surveillance protocols for homeless shelter staff in Italy.
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