Fine-toothed comb blames inhaled steroids for TB

Brassard et al analyzed a Canadian database cohort of >427,000 people and, finding 564 cases of tuberculosis, announced that users of inhaled corticosteroids had a rate ratio of ~1.26 to 1.97 over never-users, with current and high-dose ICS users on the higher end of that range. They also found that oral corticosteroids reduced the risk association, though OCS are strongly believed to increase risk for TB. AJRCCM 2011;183:675-678.