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Public Health Weekly Report
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A tuberculosis contact investigation in a nursing home for the elderly
- Date2019-05-16 19:52
- Update2019-11-19 19:12
- DivisionDivision of Strategic Planning for Emerging Infectious Diseases
- Tel043-719-7271
A tuberculosis contact investigation in a nursing home for the elderly
Hong Seoyean, Choi Yun, Kim Ji-Eun, Park Mi-Sun
Division of TB Epidermic investigation, Center for Disease Prevention, KCDC
Nursing home is a place where the elderly who may be immuno-compromised and may have underlying diseases live together. Tuberculosis can spread within a facility if a patient with pulmonary tuberculosis is present. We conducted a contact investigation for tuberculosis in a nursing home with a known tuberculosis patient in 2017. Additionally, three more patients were found and the genotypes of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in three of the four patients were identical. Generally, tuberculosis in elderly people is known to be caused by the reactivation of a previously acquired infection; it is assumed that this outbreak was caused by the infectious patient (index case). Contact investigations and regular chest X-ray screening are important interventions to detect tuberculosis patients among the elderly.
Keywords: Tuberculosis, Nursing home, Home for the aged, Contact investigation, X-ray, Genotype
Hong Seoyean, Choi Yun, Kim Ji-Eun, Park Mi-Sun
Division of TB Epidermic investigation, Center for Disease Prevention, KCDC
Nursing home is a place where the elderly who may be immuno-compromised and may have underlying diseases live together. Tuberculosis can spread within a facility if a patient with pulmonary tuberculosis is present. We conducted a contact investigation for tuberculosis in a nursing home with a known tuberculosis patient in 2017. Additionally, three more patients were found and the genotypes of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in three of the four patients were identical. Generally, tuberculosis in elderly people is known to be caused by the reactivation of a previously acquired infection; it is assumed that this outbreak was caused by the infectious patient (index case). Contact investigations and regular chest X-ray screening are important interventions to detect tuberculosis patients among the elderly.
Keywords: Tuberculosis, Nursing home, Home for the aged, Contact investigation, X-ray, Genotype
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