title: Tuberculosis in health care workers in Belarus.
abstract: METHODS
  Tuberculosis (TB), including drug-resistant TB, is a serious problem in Belarus.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine the prevalence of TB among health care workers (HCWs) along with patient characteristics, treatment outcomes and drug resistance patterns between 2008 and 2012.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective national record review.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 116 HCWs with TB. Case notification rates were higher among HCWs than in the general population (349 vs. 40/100 000 in 2012). Most HCWs with TB were nurses (n = 46, 40%) or nurse assistants (n = 37, 32%), female (n = 100, 86%) and aged 25-44 years (n = 84, 72%). Most common places of work for HCWs with TB were multidrug-resistant (MDR-) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR-TB) wards (n = 23, 20%), general medical (n = 26, 22%) and non-medical (n = 34, 29%) departments. All HCWs had pulmonary TB, 107 (92%) had new TB and 103 (89%) had negative sputum smears. Of the 38 (33%) with culture and drug susceptibility testing (DST), 28 (74%) had MDR-/XDR-TB. In 109 HCWs evaluated for final treatment outcomes, 97 (89%) were successfully treated, and their results were not affected by DST status.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study highlights the high prevalence of recorded TB in HCWs in TB health facilities in Belarus: there is a need to better understand and rectify this problem.
authors.affiliation: Republican Scientific and Practical Centre for Pulmonology and Tuberculosis, Minsk, Belarus.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Klimuk
authors.affiliation: Republican Scientific and Practical Centre for Pulmonology and Tuberculosis, Minsk, Belarus.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hurevich
authors.affiliation: International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, Paris, France ; London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
authors.forename: A D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Harries
authors.affiliation: Republican Scientific and Practical Centre for Pulmonology and Tuberculosis, Minsk, Belarus.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Babrukevich
authors.affiliation: Tuberculosis and M/XDR-TB Programme, Division of Communicable Diseases, Health Security & Environment, World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kremer
authors.affiliation: Medical Department, Brussels Operational Center, Médecins Sans Frontières, MSF-Luxembourg, Luxembourg.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Van den Bergh
authors.affiliation: Tuberculosis and M/XDR-TB Programme, Division of Communicable Diseases, Health Security & Environment, World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: C D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Acosta
authors.affiliation: Republican Scientific and Practical Centre for Pulmonology and Tuberculosis, Minsk, Belarus.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Astrauko
authors.affiliation: Republican Scientific and Practical Centre for Pulmonology and Tuberculosis, Minsk, Belarus.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Skrahina
keywords: Belarus; HCWs; SORT IT; operational research; tuberculosis