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Volume 18, Number 9—September 2012
Research

Evaluation of Immigrant Tuberculosis Screening in Industrialized Countries

Manish Pareek, Iacopo Baussano, Ibrahim Abubakar, Christopher Dye, and Ajit LalvaniComments to Author 
Author affiliations: Imperial College London, London, UK (M. Pareek, A. Lalvani); University of Leicester, Leicester, UK (M. Pareek); Univeristà degli Studi del Piemonte Orientale, Novara, Italy (I. Baussano); University College London, London (I. Abubakar); University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK (I. Abubakar); and World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland (C. Dye)

Main Article

Table 3

Immigrant screening practices for latent TB infection in 16 industrialized OECD countries*

Screen for latent TB No. positive countries/ no. tested (%)
Yes 16/29 (55.2)
Location of screening

Prearrival

2/16 (12.5)

At arrival

2/16 (12.5)

Postarrival

16/16 (100.0)
Selection criteria based on age

No age cutoff†

6/16 (37.5)

Age cutoff values for screening, y

10/16 (62.5)

<5

1/10 (10.0)

<15

2/10 (20.0)

<35

3/10 (30.0)

<40

1/10 (10.0)

Other

3/10 (30.0)
TB incidence in country of origin 5/16 (31.3)
TB cases/100,000 population at screening‡§

>20

1/5 (20.0)

>40

2/5 (40.0)

>50

1/5 (20.0)

>100

1/5 (20.0)

>500

1/5 (20.0)
Specific country of origin§ 13/16 (81.3)
Countries screened

All

5/13 (38.5)

All except EU, North America,
 Australia, and New Zealand

5/13 (38.5)

Other¶

3/13 (23.1)

Screening tools used for LTBI#

TST

11/16 (68.8)

TST and confirmatory IGRA

4/16 (25.0)

IGRA

3/16 (18.8)

*OECD, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development; TB, tuberculosis; EU, European Union; LTBI, latent TB infection; TST, tuberculin skin test; IGRA, interferon-γ release assay.
†All ages screened.
‡Numbers do not add up to the total because certain countries (e.g., Ireland) screened at different incidence thresholds for children and adults.
§Numbers do not add up to the total because certain countries base screening criteria on incidence threshold and country of origin.
¶Ethiopia, sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Africa, and Eastern Europe.
#Numbers do add up to the total because in some countries (e.g., United Kingdom and United States), >1 screening method is allowed or recommended.

Main Article

Page created: August 22, 2012
Page updated: August 22, 2012
Page reviewed: August 22, 2012
The conclusions, findings, and opinions expressed by authors contributing to this journal do not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Public Health Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the authors' affiliated institutions. Use of trade names is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by any of the groups named above.
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