No abstract

Background Centers for Disease Control and Prevention requirements for pre-immigration tuberculosis (TB) screening of children 2- to 14-years old permit a tuberculin skin test (TST) or an interferon-gamma release assay (IGRA). Few data are available on the performance of IGRAs versus TSTs in foreign-born children. Methods We compared the performance of TST and QuantiFERON-TB (QFT) Gold In-Tube in children 2- to 14-years old applying to immigrate to the United States from Mexico, the Philippines and Vietnam, using diagnosis of TB in immigrating family members as a measure of potential exposure. Results We enrolled 2520 children: 664 (26%) were TST+ and 142 (5.6%) were QFT+. One hundred and eleven (4.4%) were TST+/QFT+, 553 (21.9%) were TST+/QFT− and 31 (1.2%) were TST−/QFT+. Agreement between tests was poor (κ = 0.20). Although positive results of both tests were significantly associated with older age (relative risks [RR] TST+, 1.64; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.36–1.97; RR QFT+, 3.05; 95% CI: 1.72–5.38) and with the presence of TB in at least 1 immigrating family member (RR TST+, 1.40; 95% CI: 1.12–1.75; RR QFT+ 2.24; 95% CI: 1.18–4.28), QFT+ results were more strongly associated with both predictive variables. Conclusions The findings support the preferential use of QFT over TST for pre-immigration screening of foreign-born children 2 years of age and older and lend support to the preferential use of IGRAs in testing foreign-born children for latent TB infection.

Background Genitourinary infections (GUIs) are common among sexually active women. Yet, little is known about the risk of birth defects associated with GUIs. Methods Using data from the National Birth Defects Prevention Study, a multisite, population-based, case-control study, we assessed self-reported maternal GUIs in the month before through the third month of pregnancy (periconception) from 29,316 birth defect cases and 11,545 unaffected controls. We calculated odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals to estimate the risk of 52 major structural birth defects associated with GUIs. We also calculated risk of birth defects associated with each type of GUI: urinary tract infection (UTI) and sexually transmitted infection (STI). Results In our analysis, 10% (n = 2,972) of case and 9% (n = 1,014) of control mothers reported a periconceptional GUI. A GUI was significantly associated with 11 of the 52 birth defects examined (ORs ranging from 1.19 to 2.26): encephalocele, cataracts, cleft lip, esophageal atresia, duodenal atresia/stenosis, small intestinal atresia/stenosis, colonic atresia/stenosis, transverse limb deficiency, conoventricular septal defect, atrioventricular septal defect, and secundum atrial septal defect. A periconceptional UTI was significantly associated with nine birth defects (ORs from 1.21 to 2.48), and periconceptional STI was significantly associated with four birth defects (ORs ranging from 1.63 to 3.72). Conclusions While misclassification of GUIs in our analysis is likely, our findings suggest GUIs during the periconceptional period may increase the risk for specific birth defects.

Non-Hispanic blacks represent 13 % of the U.S.-born population but account for 37 % of tuberculosis (TB) cases reported in U.S.-born persons. Few studies have explored whether this disparity is associated with differences in TB-related knowledge and attitudes. Interviews were conducted with U.S.-born, non-Hispanic blacks and whites diagnosed with TB from August 2009 to December 2010 in cities and states that accounted for 27 % of all TB cases diagnosed in these racial groups in the U.S. during that time period. Of 477 participants, 368 (77 %) were non-Hispanic black and 109 (23 %) were non-Hispanic white. Blacks had significantly less knowledge and more misconceptions about TB transmission and latent TB infection than whites. Most TB patients in both groups recalled being given TB information; having received such information was strongly correlated with TB knowledge. Providing information to U.S.-born TB patients significantly increased their knowledge and understanding of TB. More focused efforts are needed to provide TB information to U.S.-born black TB patients.

Background Studies evaluating associations between medication use in pregnancy and birth outcomes rely on various sources of exposure information. We sought to assess agreement between self‐reported use of medications during early pregnancy and medication information in prenatal medical records to understand the reliability of each of these information sources. Methods We compared self‐reported prescription medication use in early pregnancy to medical records from 184 New York women with deliveries in 2018 who participated in the Birth Defects Study To Evaluate Pregnancy exposureS. We assessed medications used chronically and episodically, and medications within 12 therapeutic groups. We calculated agreement using kappa (κ) coefficients, sensitivity, and specificity. We assessed differences by case/control status, maternal age, education, time to interview, and interview language. Results Medications used chronically showed substantial agreement between self‐report and medical records (κ = 0.75, 0.61–0.88), with agreement for therapeutic groups used chronically ranging from κ = 0.61 for antidiabetics to κ = 1.00 for antihypertensives. Prescription medications used episodically showed worse agreement (κ = 0.40, 0.25–0.54), with the lowest agreement for opioid analgesics (κ = 0.20) and anti‐infectives (κ = 0.33). Agreement did not differ by the characteristics examined, although we observed potential differences by interview language. Conclusions Among our sample, we observed good agreement between self‐report and medical records for medications used chronically and substantially less agreement for medications used episodically. Differences by source may be due to poor recall in self‐reports, non‐adherence with prescribed medications and lack of complete prescription information within medical records. Limitations should be considered when assessing prescription medication exposures during early pregnancy in epidemiologic studies.