Incidence of tuberculosis at a university from 2007 to 2010

Abstract

The statistics of purified protein derivative (PPD) test and chest radiograph of freshmen at a university from 2007 to 2010 were collected and examined. The result showed 25 tuberculosis cases (a prevalence rate of 0.18%) and 1 790 cases (13.40%) with strong positive PPD. After giving informed consents, the students with strong positive result and no abnormality on chest radiograph were divided into two groups. The treatment group (n=814) received precautionary anti-tuberculosis treatment while the non-treatment group (n=976) had no treatment. And 34 tuberculosis cases were found during four years in school (0.25%). Except for freshmen in 2008, the prevalence rate of the strong positive PPD groups much higher than that of the positive and negative groups and the difference had statistic significance between the groups (χ2=23.20, 10.58, 18.80, P<0.05). Therefore PPD test and chest radiograph are two main methods for an early diagnosis of tuberculosis among freshmen. Adopting precautionary anti-tuberculosis treatment for students with strong positive PPD and regular physical examinations are effective measures for tuberculosis control at universities. Key words: Tuberculosis; Tuberculosis precaution