Public Health Impact of Targeted Tuberculosis Screening in Public Schools

Bibliographic Data

ID11025767
AuthorsSoju Chang (At the time of the study, Soju Chang was with the Preventive Medicine Residency Program, School of Hygiene and Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md. Lani S. M. Wheeler and Katherine P. Farrell are with the Anne Arundel County Department of Health, Annapolis, Md.), Lani S M Wheeler (At the time of the study, Soju Chang was with the Preventive Medicine Residency Program, School of Hygiene and Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md. Lani S. M. Wheeler and Katherine P. Farrell are with the Anne Arundel County Department of Health, Annapolis, Md.), Lani Wheeler (Johns Hopkins University), Katherine P Farrell (At the time of the study, Soju Chang was with the Preventive Medicine Residency Program, School of Hygiene and Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md. Lani S. M. Wheeler and Katherine P. Farrell are with the Anne Arundel County Department of Health, Annapolis, Md.), Katherine Farrell (Johns Hopkins University)
Year2002
Volume92
Issue12
Pages1942-1945
Publication date2002-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Public Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0090-0036 • E-ISSN: 1541-0048
PublisherAmerican Public Health Association (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.2105/ajph.92.12.1942
PMID12453813
OpenAlexW1987401774
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited20

Persons born where tuberculosis (TB) is prevalent are at higher risk of contracting the disease. In Maryland, people born in countries where TB is prevalent comprised 43% of TB cases in 1998.1 In Anne Arundel County, Maryland, where only 3% of the population is foreign born,2 40% of active TB cases in 1998 were foreign born.3 The incidence rate for foreign-born county residents was 66 TB cases per 100 000 population (compared with a US rate of 6.8 per 100 000 for the general population and 28 per 100 000 for the foreign-born population).1 Among US-born county residents, incidence was only 3 TB cases per 100 000. In 1987, active pulmonary TB occurred in 2 foreign-born students in the Anne Arundel County public school system, and 35 school contacts (i.e., people who came into contact with TB cases at school) developed latent TB infection (LTBI). In 1989, the Anne Arundel County Department of Health, in collaboration with the county’s public school system, instituted a policy of targeted screening of all foreign-born students entering public schools, using the tuberculin skin test (TST) and the guidelines of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Advisory Committee for Elimination of Tuberculosis of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the American Thoracic Society.4,5 The policy was revised in 1996 to include any untested foreign-born students. All those born outside the United States, including American citizens, are defined as foreign born. Such students must show TST documentation before enrolling in school. Students with a history of TB must show documentation of adequate therapy.4,5 In 1999, the county department of health evaluated the health and economic impact of targeted TB screening by retrospectively reviewing data on those that the department had screened from 1993 to 1998

Environmental health · Family medicine · Foreign born · Incidence (geometry) · Population · Public health · Tuberculin · Tuberculosis · Demography · Infectious Diseases and Tuberculosis · Medicine · Nursing · Pneumonia and Respiratory Infections · Tuberculosis Research and Epidemiology · Pediatrics

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