SETTING: A prison system with an average year-end census of 9084 inmates. OBJECTIVE: To determine transmission dynamics of tuberculosis over a long period; to establish whether Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains responsible for disease in a prison system persist; and to determine whether patients in a community whose isolates cluster with those in a prison system are linked. DESIGN: Retrospective epidemiologic analysis was performed on tuberculosis cases reported in a prison system over a 9-year period. In addition, IS6110 RFLP patterns of M. tuberculosis isolates obtained from prisoners were compared with those of other cases from the state at large. The results of the RFLP analysis and the epidemiologic investigation were compared. RESULTS: Approximately 80% of tuberculosis cases in the prison system were clustered. Over 9 years, a single strain of M. tuberculosis accounted for more than 50% of cases. Patients from the community at large who were infected with the same strain were linked to the prison system. CONCLUSION: In spite of intensive tuberculosis control efforts, a single strain of M. tuberculosis has persisted in the prison system. Its persistence is accounted for by activation of latent infection in patients who, prior to being diagnosed and treated, infected other patients, who then sustained the transmission chain.
SETTING: A prison system with an average year-end census of 9084 inmates. OBJECTIVE: To determine transmission dynamics of tuberculosis over a long period; to establish whether Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains responsible for disease in a prison system persist; and to determine whether patients in a community whose isolates cluster with those in a prison system are linked. DESIGN: Retrospective epidemiologic analysis was performed on tuberculosis cases reported in a prison system over a 9-year period. In addition, IS6110 RFLP patterns of M. tuberculosis isolates obtained from prisoners were compared with those of other cases from the state at large. The results of the RFLP analysis and the epidemiologic investigation were compared. RESULTS: Approximately 80% of tuberculosis cases in the prison system were clustered. Over 9 years, a single strain of M. tuberculosis accounted for more than 50% of cases. Patients from the community at large who were infected with the same strain were linked to the prison system. CONCLUSION: In spite of intensive tuberculosis control efforts, a single strain of M. tuberculosis has persisted in the prison system. Its persistence is accounted for by activation of latent infection in patients who, prior to being diagnosed and treated, infected other patients, who then sustained the transmission chain.
Authors: Lauren A Lambert; Lori R Armstrong; Mark N Lobato; Christine Ho; Anne Marie France; Maryam B Haddad Journal: Am J Public Health Date: 2016-09-15 Impact factor: 9.308
Authors: Sarah Talarico; Kashef Ijaz; Xinyu Zhang; Leonard N Mukasa; Lixin Zhang; Carl F Marrs; M Donald Cave; Joseph H Bates; Zhenhua Yang Journal: Tuberculosis (Edinb) Date: 2011-03-01 Impact factor: 3.131
Authors: Giorgio Guzzetta; Marco Ajelli; Zhenhua Yang; Leonard N Mukasa; Naveen Patil; Joseph H Bates; Denise E Kirschner; Stefano Merler Journal: J Theor Biol Date: 2015-06-05 Impact factor: 2.691
Authors: Iacopo Baussano; Brian G Williams; Paul Nunn; Marta Beggiato; Ugo Fedeli; Fabio Scano Journal: PLoS Med Date: 2010-12-21 Impact factor: 11.069