Volume 18, Number 9—September 2012
Research
Evaluation of Immigrant Tuberculosis Screening in Industrialized Countries
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 screeningठ| |
|
>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.