Tuberculosis among never-jailed drug abusers

The best way to control tuberculosis in a community is active case-finding and treatment among high-risk groups. Upon admission to a correctional centre in 1997, 319 never-jailed drug addicts were enrolled in the present study. Statistically significant differences in skin-test positivity were found among males over 40 years old, those unemployed and injecting drug abusers. Among the sample, 8 cases of pulmonary tuberculosis were found. This is approximately 170 times the rate in the general population. Because of cost and time, we recommend the screening of drug addicts by mini-radiography instead of tuberculin skin test at admission