Risk of tuberculosis in public transport sector workers, Lima, Peru

• Published in: The international journal of tuberculosis and lung disease Vol. 14; no. 6; pp. 714 - 719
• Main Authors: Horna-Campos, Bedoya-Lama, Romero-Sandoval, Martín-Mateo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Paris, France IUATLD 01.06.2010; International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Bacterial diseases; Bacterial diseases of the respiratory system; Biological and medical sciences; Female; Human bacterial diseases; Humans; Incidence; Infectious diseases; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Mycobacterium; Mycobacterium tuberculosis - isolation & purification; Occupational Diseases - epidemiology; Occupational Diseases - microbiology; Occupational Exposure - adverse effects; Occupational Exposure - statistics & numerical data; Occupational Risk; Peru - epidemiology; Pneumology; Public Transport; Pulmonary Tuberculosis; Respiratory system : syndromes and miscellaneous diseases; Retrospective Studies; Risk Assessment - methods; Risk Factors; Sputum - microbiology; Transportation; Tuberculosis and atypical mycobacterial infections; Tuberculosis, Multidrug-Resistant - epidemiology; Tuberculosis, Multidrug-Resistant - microbiology; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary - epidemiology; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary - microbiology; Urban Population; Young Adult; South America; Peru; America; Argentina, Buenos Aire, Lima; Lung disease; Respiratory disease; Pulmonary tuberculosis; Risk; Mycobacterial infection; Occupational exposure; occupational risk; Infection; Work safety; Risk factor; public transport; Bacteriosis; Worker; Transport; Occupational medicine; Public health; Pneumology
• ISSN: 1027-3719; 1815-7920; 1815-7920

SETTING: Delays from symptom onset to the diagnosis and treatment of smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) produces possible new cases in persons in close contact with TB cases, especially in confined spaces such as overcrowded public transport, which puts other users and transport workers at risk.OBJECTIVE: To estimate TB incidence rates in patients of a health micro-network, and the percentage of transport sector workers among TB and multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) patients.DESIGN: Crude and indirect standardised incidence rates of TB were calculated from an exhaustive analysis of all clinical histories of incident patients in a health micro-network between 1 January 2007 and 30 June 2008. The percentage of transport sector workers and the association between MDR-TB and working in the transport sector were analysed.RESULTS: Standardised incidence rates for transport sector workers are 2.7-4.5 times higher than those in the total working-age male and global population of the micro-network studied. The association between TB and transport occupation and MDR-TB and transport occupation is high (respectively OR 3.06, 95%CI 2.2-4.2 and OR 3.14, 95%CI 1.1-9.1).CONCLUSION: These results indicate that the use of informal public transport is a risk factor for TB infection and an occupational risk in countries with characteristics similar to those in Peru.