Active tuberculosis case-finding among drug users and homeless persons: after the outbreak. Issue 1 (21st April 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: van Hest, Rob; de Vries, Gerard
• Is Part Of: European respiratory journal. Volume 48:Issue 1(2016)
• Page Start: 269
• Page End: 271
• Publication Date: 2016-04-21
• Subjects: Respiratory organs -- Diseases -- Periodicals; Respiration -- Periodicals; 616.2
• DOI: 10.1183/13993003.00284-2016
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0903-1936

Abstract

Tuberculosis (TB) control in high-risk settings and populations is a fascinating challenge, as it also is in the context of the World Health Organization (WHO) End TB strategy [1]; and it is frequently reported in medical journals. We previously described how an outbreak was built up among illicit drug users and homeless persons in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and successfully controlled by a systematic targeted TB active case-finding programme, using a mobile digital X-ray unit (MDXU) [2, 3]. On the contrast, programmatic implications after an outbreak are rarely reported. This study evaluates the intervention among these urban risk groups by describing trends of TB disease, recent transmission, active case finding and treatment outcome, and by comparing efficiency and yield of screening during outbreak management (May 2002–2005) with post-outbreak screening (2006–2014). Efficiency and yield of an active TB case-finding programme during and after an outbreak can guide scaling down http://ow.ly/ZT1Me