Nosocomial tuberculosis exposure in an outpatient setting: evaluation of patients exposed to healthcare providers with tuberculosis.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the risk of tuberculosis (TB) transmission to patients potentially exposed to two healthcare providers who worked in outpatient settings for several weeks prior to being diagnosed with acid-fast bacilli smear-positive pulmonary TB.


METHODS
Potentially exposed patients were notified by letter and television reports of the recommended evaluation for TB infection or disease and availability of free screening at the hospital. Prevalence of infection in the screened patients and the incidence rate of TB over the subsequent 2 years were compared to those of a control group of unexposed outpatients.


METHODS
An urban inner-city hospital.


METHODS
1,905 patients with potential exposure to the ill healthcare workers; 487 (25%) presented for evaluation. Controls consisted of 951 unexposed patients.


RESULTS
361 potentially exposed patients had their tuberculin test read; 97 (27%) had a purified protein derivative > or = 10 mm. In the comparison group, 148 (25%) of 600 with test readings had a > or = 10-mm reaction (risk ratio, 1.18; 95% confidence interval, 0.86-1.60). In multivariate analysis, male gender, non-white race, and older age were significantly associated with a positive tuberculin test; exposure was not. No TB cases were identified during screening. Two years after the exposure, 7 TB cases had been reported to the state registry among 1,905 potentially exposed patients (184 cases/100,000 person-years) versus 4 cases in the comparison group of 951 (210 cases/100,000 person-years).


CONCLUSIONS
Evaluation of patients exposed to healthcare workers with TB disease in ambulatory settings of an inner-city hospital revealed no evidence of transmission of Mycobacterium tuberculosis due to the exposure.
Bock
N N
NN
Emory University School of Medicine and Epidemiology Department, Grady Memorial Hospital, Atlanta, Georgia 30303, USA.
Sotir
M J
MJ
Parrott
P L
PL
Blumberg
H M
HM
D000328:Adult; D000554:Ambulatory Care Facilities; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000635:transmission*; D018563:Disease Notification; D005260:Female; D005845:Georgia / Q000453:epidemiology; D006282:Health Personnel; D006786:Hospitals, Urban; D006801:Humans; D017757:Infectious Disease Transmission, Professional-to-Patient; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010045:Outpatients; D012307:Risk Factors; D014374:Tuberculin Test; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000635:transmission*