TB in Kindergarten and Primary School, Italy | CDC EID

EID Journal Home > Volume 17, Number 3–March 2011

Volume 17, Number 3–March 2011
Dispatch
Tuberculosis in Kindergarten and Primary School, Italy, 2008–2009
Antonietta Filia, Giuseppe Ciarrocchi, Rossana Belfiglio, Monaldo Caferri, Antonino Bella, Claudio Piersimoni, Daniela Cirillo, Gualtiero Grilli, Cristina Mancini, and Donato Greco

Author affiliations: National Health Institute, Rome, Italy (A. Filia, A. Bella, D. Greco); Local Health Authority Marche Region, Ancona, Italy (G. Ciarrocchi, R. Belfiglio, M. Caferri); United Hospitals, Ancona (C. Piersimoni); Regional Reference Mycobacterial Laboratory, Ancona (C. Piersimoni); San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy (D. Cirillo); and Regional Healthcare Agency Marche Region, Ancona (G. Grilli, C. Mancini)

Suggested citation for this article

Abstract
An outbreak of tuberculosis (TB) in Italy involved 19 schoolchildren with active TB and 43 with latent infection. The source of the outbreak was a school assistant born in Italy who had a family history of TB. This outbreak highlights the need for maintaining clinical and public health expertise in countries with low TB incidence.

The decrease in incidence of tuberculosis (TB) since the mid-1900s in Italy has resulted in loss of expertise in TB diagnosis, management, and control (1). However, TB is still present in Italy; each year >4,000 new cases are reported to the statutory reporting system (7.4 cases/100,000 population in 2008), and 46% of cases occur in foreign-born persons (2). As in other industrialized countries, cases in children are uncommon. Occurrence of TB in children indicates ongoing transmission of the disease and reflects effectiveness of a TB control program. Several TB outbreaks in schools have been reported in low-incidence countries in the past decade (3–6). We report an outbreak that occurred in a kindergarten/primary school in Italy.

full-text:
TB in Kindergarten and Primary School, Italy | CDC EID


Suggested Citation for this Article
Filia A, Ciarrocchi G, Belfiglio R, Caferri M, Bella A, Piersimoni C, et al. Tuberculosis in kindergarten and primary school, Italy, 2008–2009. Emerg Infect Dis [serial on the Internet]. 2011 Mar [date cited]. http://www.cdc.gov/EID/content/17/3/514.htm


DOI: 10.3201/eid1703.101440


Comments to the Authors
Please use the form below to submit correspondence to the authors or contact them at the following address:

Antonietta Filia, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy; email: antonietta.filia@iss.it