title: Tuberculosis surveillance in a long-term care facility.
abstract: The prevalence of tuberculous infection in residents of a large nursing facility in New York City was assessed. The population was predominantly female (80%) and white (86%), with almost one-half (49%) being foreign born. The mean age of the group was 86.1 years. Four hundred and fifty-five residents were given tuberculin skin tests using the two-step Mantoux test procedure. The prevalence of tuberculous infection was 27.5% with only slight differences being noted between the native-born (28.8%) and foreign-born (26.1%) residents. A 10% booster effect was noted. Tuberculous infection rates were higher in non-white than white residents. A progressive decline in the prevalence of tuberculous infection was noted with increasing age. No cases of tuberculosis were detected. Our study provides a model for collecting and evaluating epidemiologic data to assess infection prevalence and tuberculosis transmission in a long-term care facility.
authors.affiliation: University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark, NJ 07103-2757, USA.
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: McDonald
authors.forename: M N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Mulvihill
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.forename: L S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Libow
authors.forename: R R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Neufeld