Preliminary Results of Establishment of Novel Tuberculosis Control Model in Long-Term Care Facilities in Taiwan, 2018

Preliminary Results of Establishment of Novel Tuberculosis Control Model in Long-Term Care Facilities in Taiwan, 2018

The incidence of tuberculosis (TB) in Taiwan is declining every year. Compared with the TB incidence of 41.4 cases per 100,000 general population in 2017, the age-specific incidence among elderly aged ≥65 years was 173.4 cases per 100,000 population. At the same time, population aging results in rising demands for long-term care (LTC), and the number of LTC facilities is increasing. Since the residents of LTC facilities are mainly elderly people, the risk of active transmission of TB in LTC facilities contributing the TB epidemic among the elderly in addition to the reactivation of TB bacilli from latent infection into active TB disease is also increasing. Our research intended to establish a novel TB control model in LTC facilities to test and treat latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) in addition to annual chest X-ray examination and symptom screening for active TB disease. Our research revealed that among the residents or staffs in LTC facilities with positive results for LTBI tests who did not receive LTBI treatment, the progression from LTBI to TB disease within a year was up to 2.30%. We recommended that the managers of LTC facilities should consider to incorporate LTBI screening/treatment into infection control measures to effectively prevent intra-institutional transmission and protect the health of residents and staffs in LTC facilities.