Tuberculosis risk among nursing professionals from Central Brazil

Background Health care workers (HCWs), mainly those involved in direct contact with tuberculosis (TB) patients, such as nurses, are at high risk for Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. Methods During 2001, 128 nursing professionals from an infectious disease referral hospital in Central Brazil were interviewed and underwent a 2-step tuberculin skin test (TST). Afterwards, individuals with negative TSTs were retested annually to determine the incidence density of TST conversion. Results TST positivity was detected in 69.5% of the nursing professionals. Length of professional activity and previous direct contact with TB sputum smear–positive patients were associated with tuberculin positivity ( P < .05). During the follow-up period, an incidence density of 11.5 new TST conversions per 100 person-years was detected. Two individuals developed extrapulmonary tuberculosis. Conclusions The present findings highlight the importance of M tuberculosis infection in HCWs, such as nurses, who are in direct contact with TB patients and ratify the necessity of infection control measures to prevent this infection in health care facilities.