Ongoing tuberculosis transmission to children in Greenland

Open Access
Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Inuit in the Arctic are experiencing an increase in tuberculosis cases, reaching levels in Greenland comparable to high-incidence countries. This prompted us to study the level of tuberculosis transmission to Greenlandic children. Specifically, we estimated the current prevalence ofMycobacterium tuberculosisinfection (MTI) and the underlying annual risk of MTI.2,231 Greenlandic school children aged 5–17 yrs (∼25% of the Greenlandic population in the relevant age group) were tested for MTI using the tuberculin skin test and the QuantiFERON®-TB Gold in-tube test. Subjects with dual-positive results were considered infected and subjects with dual-negative results uninfected. The children with discordant test results were classified as probably having MTI and analysed separately.8.1% of the children had dual-positive test results. The annual risk of MTI was estimated as 0.80% (95% CI 0.67–0.92%) giving a cumulative risk at the 18th birthday of 13.4%. The annual risk of MTI varied substantially by ethnicity (0.87% in Inuit children, 0.02% in non-Inuit children; pM. tuberculosistransmission occurs at a very high level in Inuit children with pronounced geographic differences emphasising the need for immediate public health interventions.