In-hospital contact investigation among health care workers after exposure to smear-negative tuberculosis.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Smear-negative pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) accounts for a considerable proportion of TB transmission, which especially endangers health care workers (HCW). Novel Mycobacterium-tuberculosis-specific interferon-gamma release assays (IGRAs) may offer the chance to define the burden of TB in HCW more accurately than the Mantoux tuberculin skin test (TST), but the data that is available regarding their performance in tracing smear-negative TB in the low-incidence, in-hospital setting, is limited. We conducted a large-scale, in-hospital contact investigation among HCW of a German university hospital after exposure to a single case of extensive smear-negative, culture-positive TB with pulmonary involvement. The objective of the present study was to evaluate an IGRA in compariso

SUBMITTER: Ringshausen FC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2698921 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature