Defensive capacity against viral infections and a risk of contracting tuberculosis in foreign university students.

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The aim of this study is to investigate a defensive capacity against viral infections and a risk of contracting tuberculosis in foreign university students. The protocol of this study was approved by research review board of Chiba University. Written informed consent was taken from all participated foreign students. The number of participants was 84 students consisting of 42 males and 42 females, and an average age was 26.5 years old. All the students underwent tests to evaluate antibody titers for four viral infections, and 73 of them underwent QFTB test. In terms of their nationalities half of them were Chinese and the second highest numbers were Indonesian and Korean. The rates of positivity for the various viral antibodies were as follows: measles 65.5%, rubella 91.7%, chickenpox (varicella) 78.6% and mumps 56.0%. The results of QFTB revealed that 17 subjects were positive (positive rate; 23.3%), 6 were indeterminate and 50 were negative for latent tuberculosis infection. In conclusion, it was demonstrated that the defensive capacity against some viral infections of foreign students are slightly weak and the risk of contracting tuberculosis is higher in comparison with Japanese students. We reported these results in the 50th annual meeting of Japan University Health Association (Kobe).