title: Tuberculosis among healthcare workers in southeastern China: A retrospective study of 7-year surveillance data.
abstract: The baseline prevalence and characteristics of tuberculosis (TB) among general healthcare workers (HCWs) in southeastern China remains unknown. We conducted a retrospective study based on the TB surveillance data in Zhejiang Province from 2005 to 2011, which were extracted from the national Tuberculosis Information Management System (TIMS). We calculated and compared annual notification rates of different occupational groups and analyzed the epidemiological and clinical characteristics. The annual TB notification rates among general HCWs declined steadily from 2005 to 2011. On average, HCWs showed annual TB notification rates lower than the general population but higher than teachers. Recorded HCW TB patients averaged 35.5 years of age, with females outnumbering males (58.0% > 42.0%). The proportion of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) was higher among male than in the female patients (88.5% > 83.4%, P = 0.031). Our study suggested that general HCWs run a higher occupational risk than teachers although the two groups are socioeconomically comparable and that the priority should be given to the young female HCWs for TB prevention in healthcare institutions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Science Research Management, Zhejiang Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Hangzhou 310051, China. bchen@cdc.zj.cn.
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Tuberculosis Control and Prevention, Zhejiang Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Hangzhou 310051, China. xmwang@cdc.zj.cn.
authors.forename: Xiaomeng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Tuberculosis Control and Prevention, Zhejiang Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Hangzhou 310051, China. jmzhong@cdc.zj.cn.
authors.forename: Jiemin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.affiliation: Department of Tuberculosis Control and Prevention, Zhejiang Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Hangzhou 310051, China. shchen@cdc.zj.cn.
authors.forename: Songhua
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Tuberculosis Control and Prevention, Zhejiang Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Hangzhou 310051, China. bbwu@cdc.zj.cn.
authors.forename: Beibei
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Politics & International Relations, Social Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK. H.Yeh@soton.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Hui-Chi
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Yeh
authors.affiliation: Department of Science Research Management, Zhejiang Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Hangzhou 310051, China. zhgjiang@cdc.zj.cn.
authors.forename: Zhenggang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Department of Science Research Management, Zhejiang Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Hangzhou 310051, China. ztwang@cdc.zj.cn.
authors.forename: Zhengting
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Science Research Management, Zhejiang Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Hangzhou 310051, China. hgu@cdc.zj.cn.
authors.forename: Hua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.affiliation: Department of Science Research Management, Zhejiang Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Hangzhou 310051, China. jmjiang@cdc.zj.cn.
authors.forename: Jianmin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jiang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006282:Health Personnel; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012016:Reference Values; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D055815:Young Adult