Epidemic characteristics and associated factors of pulmonary tuberculosis aggregation in school in Wuhan during 2017-2020 / 中国学校卫生

ABSTRACT

Objective@#To analyze the epidemiological characteristics and assoicated factors of tuberculosis (TB) aggregation in schools in Wuhan from 2017 to 2020, and to provide scientific basis for school based TB prevention and control strategies.@*Methods@#Questionnaire star was used to collect data on tuberculosis prevention and control in various schools in Wuhan. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the influencing factors of tuberculosis aggregation in schools.@*Results@#A total of 37 outbreaks of tuberculosis aggregation in schools were reported in Wuhan from 2017 to 2020, which involved 28 different schools, including 24 colleges and universities and 4 senior high schools, 176 cases were reported, among which 39 were positive for pathogens and 17 cases of rifampicin resistant, and the median duration of single cluster epidemic was 48 (28, 368) days, universities were more prone to cluster outbreaks than middle schools ( χ 2=75.27, P <0.01), the incidence in male was higher than that of in female in cluster outbreak ( χ 2=22.82, P =0.00). The results of multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that boarding school ( OR =5.12), TB screening at school entry ( OR =3.27), etiology tracking and registrationin school ( OR =7.28), treatment and isolation of sick students on time ( OR =9.12), whether the dormitories and classrooms were often ventilated ( OR =4.97), and whether the management of school suspension and return was strictly implemented ( OR =4.68) were associated with the occurrence of TB cluster outbreak( P <0.05).@*Conclusion@#Schools should actively strive for policies and funding, strictly implement TB screening and physical examination for freshmen, as well as the management of contact tracing and registeration, targeted TB health education, guidance for teachers and students for cleaning, disinfection and hand hygiene, timely treatment and reporting of suspected symptoms, to prevent the occurrence of TB clustering outbreaks.