Latent Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection and influencing factors in slaughterhouse workers, 2024

Objective To investigate and analyze the prevalence of latent Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis) infection in slaughterhouse workers in 2024 and identify the associated risk factors.

Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in workers from large-scale slaughterhouses in Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia and Hubei. The information about the demographic and other basic characteristics of the slaughterhouse workers were collected by suing structured questionnaire. Latent M. tuberculosis infection status was determined by using interferon-gamma release assay (IGRA). Multivariate Logistic regression model was used to identify factors associated with latent M. tuberculosis infection.

Results A total of 642 slaughterhouse workers were enrolled in the study, the overall prevalence rate of latent M. tuberculosis infection was 36.14%. The multivariate Logistic regression analysis revealed several significant risk factors for latent M. tuberculosis infection, including age ≥25 years, supporting job odds ratio (OR) =4.06, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.27-12.94, field slaughtering (OR=3.12, 95% CI: 1.09-8.96), history of Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccination (OR=2.03, 95% CI: 1.41-2.93), and tuberculosis history (OR=17.46, 95% CI: 3.09-98.64). Conversely, woman (OR=0.61, 95% CI: 0.42-0.88) and college degree or higher (OR=0.27, 95% CI: 0.15-0.48) were the protective factors against latent M. tuberculosis infection.

Conclusion Slaughterhouse workers are at high risk for latent M. tuberculosis infection, it is necessary to pay close attention to the prevention and control of tuberculosis in workers being engaged in both field slaughtering and supporting task in slaughterhouse.