Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection among community health workers involved in TB control.

Objective: To evaluate the incidence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection, using tuberculin skin test, among community health agents (CHAs) monitoring TB patients in the city of Cachoeiro de Itapemirim, Brazil.

Methods: We included 30 CHAs acting in the Family Health Program and 30 of their family members residing in the same household. The tuberculin skin test results of each CHA were compared with those of the corresponding family member.

[Community health workers and tuberculosis control: knowledge and perceptions].

This study analyzes the knowledge of community health workers in tuberculosis control and their self-perceived knowledge and the importance they ascribe to their role in fighting the disease, in Vitória, Espírito Santo State, Brazil. The study adopted a cross-sectional design, with a pre-tested, semi-structured questionnaire completed by 105 randomly selected health workers. The comparison of proportions between the groups formed by stratification according to time-on-the-job used the chi-squared test with 5% significance.

[Spatial distribution of new tuberculosis cases in Vitória, State of Espírito Santo, between 2000 and 2005].

We carried out an ecological study in which the spatial distribution of 979 new tuberculosis cases between 2000 and 2005 were analyzed. The risk was estimated using the local empirical Bayesian method. The local indicators of spatial association were calculated to evaluate autocorrelations of incidence between adjoining districts.