User login
CHICAGO — Consider additional tuberculosis screening strategies in patients of certain ethnic backgrounds prior to initiating biologic therapies, Stephen E. Wolverton, M.D., advised at the American Academy of Dermatology's Academy 2005 meeting.
High-risk individuals should get a chest x-ray at baseline, and a consultation or chemoprophylaxis with isoniazid for 9 months should be considered for those patients at highest risk, he said.
The ethnic background of a patient can make an enormous difference. The rate of tuberculosis is almost 17 times greater among Asian and Pacific Islanders than in non-Hispanic, U.S. whites, said Dr. Wolverton of Indiana University, Indianapolis.
Per 100,000 patients, the TB rate is 2.2 among non-Hispanic whites, compared with 35.3 among Asian Pacific Islanders, 16.8 among blacks, and 12.4 among Hispanics, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Reports of tuberculosis in patients on biologic therapies prompted the Food and Drug Administration to recommend a baseline tuberculin purified protein derivative (PPD) skin test to evaluate the risk of latent TB infection, Dr. Wolverton said. It is important to be aware that rheumatoid arthritis can decrease the activity of the PPD, he added.
There is a trend toward increased risk of TB associated with biologics, but the database on psoriasis patients is too small to make meaningful conclusions, Dr. Wolverton said.
CHICAGO — Consider additional tuberculosis screening strategies in patients of certain ethnic backgrounds prior to initiating biologic therapies, Stephen E. Wolverton, M.D., advised at the American Academy of Dermatology's Academy 2005 meeting.
High-risk individuals should get a chest x-ray at baseline, and a consultation or chemoprophylaxis with isoniazid for 9 months should be considered for those patients at highest risk, he said.
The ethnic background of a patient can make an enormous difference. The rate of tuberculosis is almost 17 times greater among Asian and Pacific Islanders than in non-Hispanic, U.S. whites, said Dr. Wolverton of Indiana University, Indianapolis.
Per 100,000 patients, the TB rate is 2.2 among non-Hispanic whites, compared with 35.3 among Asian Pacific Islanders, 16.8 among blacks, and 12.4 among Hispanics, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Reports of tuberculosis in patients on biologic therapies prompted the Food and Drug Administration to recommend a baseline tuberculin purified protein derivative (PPD) skin test to evaluate the risk of latent TB infection, Dr. Wolverton said. It is important to be aware that rheumatoid arthritis can decrease the activity of the PPD, he added.
There is a trend toward increased risk of TB associated with biologics, but the database on psoriasis patients is too small to make meaningful conclusions, Dr. Wolverton said.
CHICAGO — Consider additional tuberculosis screening strategies in patients of certain ethnic backgrounds prior to initiating biologic therapies, Stephen E. Wolverton, M.D., advised at the American Academy of Dermatology's Academy 2005 meeting.
High-risk individuals should get a chest x-ray at baseline, and a consultation or chemoprophylaxis with isoniazid for 9 months should be considered for those patients at highest risk, he said.
The ethnic background of a patient can make an enormous difference. The rate of tuberculosis is almost 17 times greater among Asian and Pacific Islanders than in non-Hispanic, U.S. whites, said Dr. Wolverton of Indiana University, Indianapolis.
Per 100,000 patients, the TB rate is 2.2 among non-Hispanic whites, compared with 35.3 among Asian Pacific Islanders, 16.8 among blacks, and 12.4 among Hispanics, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Reports of tuberculosis in patients on biologic therapies prompted the Food and Drug Administration to recommend a baseline tuberculin purified protein derivative (PPD) skin test to evaluate the risk of latent TB infection, Dr. Wolverton said. It is important to be aware that rheumatoid arthritis can decrease the activity of the PPD, he added.
There is a trend toward increased risk of TB associated with biologics, but the database on psoriasis patients is too small to make meaningful conclusions, Dr. Wolverton said.