Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Canadian Journal of Public Health = Revue Canadienne de Santé Publique logoLink to Canadian Journal of Public Health = Revue Canadienne de Santé Publique
. 1997 May 1;88(3):202–206. doi: 10.1007/BF03403888

Prevalence of Tuberculin Skin Test Reactions Among Prison Workers

Klaus Jochem 111, Terry Nan Tannenbaum 211,311, Dick Menzies 411,511,✉
PMCID: PMC6990171  PMID: 9260362

Abstract

Objective: To determine the prevalence of positive tuberculin skin test (TST) reactions (10 mm or greater) among full-time employees of a provincial prison for women in Montreal.

Methods: Participants underwent tuberculin skin testing and completed a self-administered questionnaire.

Results: Among 129 employees identified, 118 (91%) underwent tuberculin testing. Among 102 born in Quebec who completed the questionnaire, 33 (32%) had positive TST reactions, including 12 (23%) of 52 subjects who had never been vaccinated. Positive TST reactions were significantly associated in multivariate analysis with BCG vaccination after infancy (OR = 4.5, 95% CI = 1.5–13.5), years of work at other provincial prisons (OR = 2.5 for each 5 years of work, 95% CI = 1.2–5.2), travel to tuberculosis endemic countries (OR = 7.7, 95% CI = 1.4–43), although not with work in the prison for women (OR = 1.3, 95% CI = 0.9–1.9)

Conclusion: The prevalence of positive TST reactions was greater among workers at a provincial prison for women than among a sample of students, suggesting increased occupational risk of tuberculosis infection.

Footnotes

(on leave from the Infectious Disease Unit, Direction de la santé publique de Montréal-Centre)

Dr. Menzies is supported by a scholarship of the Fonds de la Recherche en Santé du Québec.

References

  • 1.Health Reports. 1994.
  • 2.Enarson D, Ashley MJ, Grzybowski S. Tuberculosis in immigrants to Canada: A study of present-day patterns in relation to immigration trends and birthplace. Am Rev Respir Dis. 1979;119:11–7. doi: 10.1164/arrd.1979.119.1.11. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 3.Orr PH, Manfreda J, Hershfield ES. Tuberculosis surveillance in immigrants to Manitoba. Can Med Assoc J. 1990;142:453–58. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 4.Enarson D, Grzybowski S. Incidence of active tuberculosis in the native population of Canada. Can Med Assoc J. 1986;134:1149–52. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 5.Enarson DA, Wang J, Dirks JM. The incidence of active tuberculosis in a large urban area. Am J Epidemiol. 1989;126:268–76. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a115246. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 6.Selwyn PA, Hartel D, Lewis VA, Schoenbaum EE, Vermund SH, Klein RS, et al. A prospective study of the risk of tuberculosis among intravenous drug users with human immunodeficiency virus infection. N Engl J Med. 1989;320:545–50. doi: 10.1056/NEJM198903023200901. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 7.Barnes PF, Bloch AB, Davidson PT, Snider DE. Tuberculosis in patients with human immunodeficiency virus infection. N Engl J Med. 1991;324:1644–50. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199106063242307. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 8.Chevalley B, De Hauer R, Bernheim J. Epidemiologie de la tuberculose pulmonaire en milieu carceral. Schweiz Med Wschr. 1983;113:261–65. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 9.Drobniewski F. Tuberculosis in prisons — forgotten plague. Lancet. 1995;346:948–49. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(95)91562-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 10.Abeles H, Feibes H, Mandel E. The large city prison — a reservoir of tuberculosis. Am Rev Respir Dis. 1970;101:706–9. doi: 10.1164/arrd.1970.101.5.706. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 11.Braun M, Truman B, Maguire B, DiFerdinando G, Wormser G, Broaddus R, et al. Increasing incidence of tuberculosis in a prison inmate population. JAMA. 1989;261:393–97. doi: 10.1001/jama.1989.03420030067031. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 12.Centers for Disease Control CDC. Prevention and control of tuberculosis in correctional institutions: Recommendations, advisory committee for elimination of tuberculosis. JAMA. 1989;262:3258–62. doi: 10.1001/jama.1989.03430230028009. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 13.Centers for Disease Control CDC. Tuberculosis in a state correctional institution — California, 1990–1991. MMWR. 1992;41:927–29. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 14.Valway SE, Richards S, Kovacovich J. Outbreak of multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis in a New York State prison, 1991. Am J Epidemiol. 1994;140:113–22. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a117222. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 15.Sokal JE. Measurement of delayed skin-test responses. N Engl J Med. 1975;293:501–2. doi: 10.1056/NEJM197509042931013. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 16.Canadian Thoracic Society (Fitzgerald JM, ed). Canadian Tuberculosis Standards. Ottawa: Canadian Lung Association, 1996
  • 17.Frappier A, Cantin M, Davignon L. BCG vaccination and pulmonary tuberculosis in Quebec. Can Med Assoc J. 1971;105:707–10. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 18.Ministere de Sante et Services Sociaux. Tuberculose, Rapport Annuel — 1992. Quebec City: Government of Quebec; 1993. [Google Scholar]
  • 19.Menzies RI, Vissandjee B. Effect of bacille Calmette-Guerin vaccination on tuberculin reactivity. Am Rev Resp Dis. 1992;145:621–25. doi: 10.1164/ajrccm/145.3.621. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 20.Dawson-Saunders B, Trapp RG. Basic and Clinical Biostatistics. Norwalk: Appleton & Lange; 1990. [Google Scholar]
  • 21.Feinstein AR. Clinical Epidemiology: the Architecture of Clinical Research. Toronto: WB Saunders Co.; 1985. [Google Scholar]
  • 22.Kleinbaum DG, Kupper LL. Applied Regression Analysis and Other Multi-Variate Methods. North Scituate, Mass.: Duxbury Press; 1978. [Google Scholar]
  • 23.Menzies RI, Vissandjee B, Rocher I, St.Germain Y. The booster effect in two-step tuberculin testing among young adults in Montreal. Ann Intern Med. 1994;120:190–98. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-120-3-199402010-00003. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 24.Rivest P, Tannenbaum T. Épidémiologie de la tuberculose région de Montréal-Centre 1992–1995. Montréal, Québec: Régie Régionale de la Santé et des Services Sociaux.; 1996. pp. 1–65. [Google Scholar]
  • 25.Salive ME, Brewer TF. Coinfection with tuberculosis and HIV-1 in male prison inmates. Public Health Rep. 1990;105:307–10. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 26.Jeanes CWL. HIV-1 infections among incarcerated men in Quebec. Can Dis Wkly Rep. 1991;17:233–35. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 27.Hankins C, Laberge C. HIV-1 in a medium security prison for women in Quebec. Can Dis Wkly Rep. 1989;15:168–70. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 28.Ford PM, White C, Kaufmann H. Voluntary anonymous linked study of the prevalence of HIV infection and hepatitis C among inmates in a Canadian federal penitentiary for women. Can Med Assoc J. 1995;153:1605–9. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 29.Voluntary screening for hepatitis C in a Canadian federal penitentiary for men. Can Commun Dis Rep 1995;21:134–36. [PubMed]
  • 30.Bruneau J, Lamothe F. Increased HIV sero-prevalence and seroincidence associated with participation in needle exchange program: unexpected findings from the Saint-Luc cohort study in Montreal; 1996. p. 244. [Google Scholar]
  • 31.Hankins C, Gendron S. Early indications of declining HIV incidence among Montreal needle exchange attenders; 1996. p. 36. [Google Scholar]
  • 32.Archibald C. HIV infection among injection drug users: Summary of December meeting. The Clarion. 1995;2:5–6. [Google Scholar]
  • 33.Pelletier A, DiFerdinando G, Greenberg A, Sosin D, Jones W, Bloch A, et al. Tuberculosis in a correctional facility. Arch Intern Med. 1993;153:2692–95. doi: 10.1001/archinte.1993.00410230112013. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 34.Bellin E, Fletcher D, Safyer S. Association of tuberculosis infection with increased time in or admission to the New York City jail system. JAMA. 1993;269:2228–31. doi: 10.1001/jama.1993.03500170058034. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 35.King L, Geis G. Tuberculosis transmission in a large urban jail. JAMA. 1996;237:791–92. doi: 10.1001/jama.1977.03270350051021. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 36.Martin Sanchez V, Alvarez-Guisasola F, Cayla JA, Alvarez JL. Predictive factors of mycobacteri-um tuberculosis infection and pulmonary tuberculosis in prisoners. Int J Epidem. 1995;24:630–36. doi: 10.1093/ije/24.3.630. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 37.Stead W. Undetected tuberculosis in prison. JAMA. 1978;240:2544–47. doi: 10.1001/jama.1978.03290230036021. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 38.Corrections Canada. Tuberculosis prevention and control program. Ottawa: Government of Canada; 1995. pp. 1–33. [Google Scholar]

Articles from Canadian Journal of Public Health = Revue Canadienne de Santé Publique are provided here courtesy of Springer

RESOURCES