title: Exposure to sputum positive cases of tuberculosis in a government hospital.
abstract: A retrospective study was carried out to ascertain the degree of exposure to the tubercle bacillus within Ipoh Hospital. This study reveals that, over a one year period, 92 sputum positive cases were admitted to the general wards. In 11 of these cases, drug resistance was considered to be possible. The mean time from admission to the commencement of treatment was seven days for the newly diagnosed cases. This study thus documents a significant degree of in-hospital exposure to the tubercle bacillus.
authors.affiliation: Medical Department, Ipoh Hospital, Perak.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jeyakumar
mesh_terms: D003428:Cross Infection / Q000635:transmission; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D006779:Hospitals, Public; D006801:Humans; D017758:Infectious Disease Transmission, Patient-to-Professional; D008503:Medical Staff; D016273:Occupational Exposure; D010361:Patients; D013183:Sputum / Q000382:microbiology*; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000635:transmission