title: Investigation of patient contacts of heath care workers with infectious tuberculosis: 6 cases in the Paris area.
abstract: METHODS
  From June to October 2003, six cases of infectious tuberculosis were reported in health care workers (HCWs) working in hospitals in the Paris area.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To describe a method of investigation to identify tuberculosis infection in patient contacts.
  
  
  METHODS
  To define the cohort of patient contacts, the risk of contamination was evaluated based on 1) the degree of infectiousness of the HCW, 2) patient characteristics, and 3) the proximity and length of exposure.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The number of patient contacts selected was very variable. A small proportion was investigated in consultation, except for a paediatric service in which 43 patient contacts were identified and where the information was managed within the service. In this cohort, two patient contacts presented tuberculous infection with an unclear link with the infectious HCW. In adults, the analysis of the information gathered was difficult due to the different screening practices used.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results show the importance of better targeting screening of patient contacts and of improving the detection of tuberculosis cases among HCWs.
authors.affiliation: CCLIN Paris-Nord, Paris, France. acarbonn@bhdc.jussieu.fr
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Carbonne
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Poirier
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Antoniotti
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Burnat
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Delacourt
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Orzechowski
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Astagneau
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bouvet
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015331:Cohort Studies; D016358:Contact Tracing; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010297:Paris / Q000453:epidemiology; D010564:Personnel, Hospital; D012307:Risk Factors; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000635:transmission*