Tuberculosis Prevention in College Students

To help college health services in all parts of the country improve their approach to latent tuberculosis, two Listservs were provided for them to post their questions on dealing with TB infection. In this article, the authors present some of the questions posted in the Listservs and their corresponding answers. In their answers, the authors have tried to highlight areas of agreement, continuing controversy, and discrepancies between the Massachusetts recommendations and those of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American College Health Association. The authors conclude that a successful program of risk assessment, targeted tuberculin skin testing, and treatment of latent TB infection benefits both the individual student and the college community. Such an approach prevents cases of active TB and also uses college health service financial resources and personnel time efficiently.