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Tuberculin (TB) Skin Testing After Exposure

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

William M. Valenti
William M. Valenti*
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, New York
*
University of Rochester Medical Center 601 Elmwood Avenue, Rochester, NY 14642
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Extract

Many employee health programs perform skin-tests on employees after exposure to pulmonary tuberculosis. This activity has become standard in employee health programs. The scenario in most health care facilities involves employees who are exposed to patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis. Many of these patients have active disease that is not detected during their hospitalization, and personnel are exposed unknowingly. The diagnosis of tuberculosis is often made after the patient is discharged which may result in contact tracing of exposed employees. This activity seems straightforward at first glance but is usually time-consuming and cumbersome. The first questions often asked are: what constitutes a dangerous patient and what is the definition of an exposure?

Type
Original Articles
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 6 , Issue 6 , June 1985 , pp. 249 - 250
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 1985

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References

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