TY - JOUR
T1 - Screening migrants from tuberculosis high-endemic countries for latent tuberculosis in Oman
T2 - A cross sectional cohort analysis
AU - Alyaquobi, Fatma
AU - AlMaqbali, Ali A.
AU - Al-Jardani, Amina
AU - Ndunda, Nduku
AU - Al Rawahi, Bader
AU - Alabri, Badr
AU - AlSadi, Ahmed Mohammed
AU - AlBaloshi, Jamal A.
AU - Al-Baloshi, Fatma S.
AU - Al-Essai, Naima A.
AU - Al-Azri, Saleh A.
AU - Al-Zadjali, Samiya M.
AU - Al-Balushi, Laila M.
AU - Petersen, Eskild
AU - Al-Abri, Seif
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2020/9/1
Y1 - 2020/9/1
N2 - To fulfil the World Health Organization (WHO) End TB strategy, screening for tuberculosis (TB) in immigrants is an important component of the strategy to reduce the TB burden in low-incidence countries. Oman has an annual TB incidence rate of 5.7 per 100000 and transmission from migrants with activated latent TB infection (LTBI) to nationals is a concern. The aim of this study was to determine the proportion of migrants to the Sultanate of Oman with LTBI. The study used an interferon-gamma release assay (IGRA) to assess previous exposure to TB, defining LTBI and a positive IGRA with a normal chest X-ray. 1049 subjects were surveyed. Six participants were excluded from the analysis as they had been recently vaccinated and 1 had an indeterminate result, thus 1042 subjects were included. The overall IGRA-positive rate was 22.4% (234/1042), 30.9% and 21.2% of African and Asian migrants, respectively, were IGRA-positive. Fifty-eight of the participants had a strong IGRA reactivity defined as more than 4 IU/ml. The study shows the proportion of migrants from Asia and Africa with LTBI and 24.7% (58/234) of IGRA-positive migrants had an IGRA of >4 IU/ml, defining a subpopulation with a high risk of developing active TB in the first two years of arrival to the country.
AB - To fulfil the World Health Organization (WHO) End TB strategy, screening for tuberculosis (TB) in immigrants is an important component of the strategy to reduce the TB burden in low-incidence countries. Oman has an annual TB incidence rate of 5.7 per 100000 and transmission from migrants with activated latent TB infection (LTBI) to nationals is a concern. The aim of this study was to determine the proportion of migrants to the Sultanate of Oman with LTBI. The study used an interferon-gamma release assay (IGRA) to assess previous exposure to TB, defining LTBI and a positive IGRA with a normal chest X-ray. 1049 subjects were surveyed. Six participants were excluded from the analysis as they had been recently vaccinated and 1 had an indeterminate result, thus 1042 subjects were included. The overall IGRA-positive rate was 22.4% (234/1042), 30.9% and 21.2% of African and Asian migrants, respectively, were IGRA-positive. Fifty-eight of the participants had a strong IGRA reactivity defined as more than 4 IU/ml. The study shows the proportion of migrants from Asia and Africa with LTBI and 24.7% (58/234) of IGRA-positive migrants had an IGRA of >4 IU/ml, defining a subpopulation with a high risk of developing active TB in the first two years of arrival to the country.
KW - Communicable disease
KW - End TB Strategy
KW - Immigrants
KW - Interferon-gamma release test
KW - Oman
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U2 - 10.1016/j.tmaid.2020.101734
DO - 10.1016/j.tmaid.2020.101734
M3 - Article
C2 - 32437967
AN - SCOPUS:85084749471
SN - 1477-8939
VL - 37
JO - Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease
JF - Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease
M1 - 101734
ER -
