title: Risk factors for transmission of tuberculosis among United States-born African Americans and Whites.
abstract: METHODS
  Tuberculosis (TB) patients and their contacts enrolled in nine states and the District of Columbia from 16 December 2009 to 31 March 2011.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate characteristics of TB patients that are predictive of tuberculous infection in their close contacts.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study population was enrolled from a list of eligible African-American and White TB patients from the TB registry at each site. Information about close contacts was abstracted from the standard reports of each site.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Close contacts of African-American TB patients had twice the risk of infection of contacts of White patients (adjusted risk ratio [aRR] 2.1, 95%CI 1.3-3.4). Close contacts of patients whose sputum was positive for acid-fast bacilli on sputum smear microscopy had 1.6 times the risk of tuberculous infection compared to contacts of smear-negative patients (95%CI 1.1-2.3). TB patients with longer (>3 months) estimated times to diagnosis did not have higher proportions of infected contacts (aRR 1.2, 95%CI 0.9-1.6).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  African-American race and sputum smear positivity were predictive of tuberculous infection in close contacts. This study did not support previous findings that longer estimated time to diagnosis predicted tuberculous infection in contacts.
authors.affiliation: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Pagaoa
authors.affiliation: RTI International, Durham, North Carolina, USA.
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Royce
authors.affiliation: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Golub
authors.affiliation: New Jersey Medical School at Rutgers, Newark, New Jersey, USA.
authors.forename: A L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Davidow
authors.affiliation: Columbia University, New York, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hirsch-Moverman
authors.affiliation: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Marks
authors.affiliation: Houston Methodist Research Institute, Houston, Texas, USA.
authors.forename: L D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Teeter
authors.affiliation: Texas Department of State Health Services, Austin, Texas, USA.
authors.forename: P M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Thickstun
authors.affiliation: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Katz
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American; D016358:Contact Tracing; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications; D006801:Humans; D055985:Latent Tuberculosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000208:ethnology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000302:isolation & purification; D016017:Odds Ratio; D012042:Registries; D012307:Risk Factors; D013183:Sputum / Q000382:microbiology; D014374:Tuberculin Test; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000635:transmission*; D014481:United States; D044465:White People