Prevalence, risk factors and social context of active pulmonary tuberculosis among prison inmates in Tajikistan.

Setting: Tuberculosis (TB) is highly prevalent in prisons of the former Soviet Union.

Objective: To understand the behavioral, demographic and biological factors placing inmates in Tajikistan at risk for active TB.

Design: We administered a behavioral and demographic survey to 1317 inmates in two prison facilities in Sughd province, Tajikistan along with radiographic screening for pulmonary TB.

Screening and rapid molecular diagnosis of tuberculosis in prisons in Russia and Eastern Europe: a cost-effectiveness analysis.

Background: Prisons of the former Soviet Union (FSU) have high rates of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) and are thought to drive general population tuberculosis (TB) epidemics. Effective prison case detection, though employing more expensive technologies, may reduce long-term treatment costs and slow MDR-TB transmission.

Methods And Findings: We developed a dynamic transmission model of TB and drug resistance matched to the epidemiology and costs in FSU prisons.