Evaluation of Exposure to Tuberculosis Among Employees at a Long-term Care Facility

Details

• Personal Author:
  De Perio, Marie A. ; Niemeier, R. Todd
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  Investigators with the HHE Program evaluated employee exposure to Mycobacterium tuberculosis at a long-term care facility. Managers asked for assistance in identifying disease sources and assessing the ventilation system. HHE Program investigators interviewed 216 employees, reviewed employee health records, and reviewed medical records of 53 residents in one area of the facility. The records showed that 12 residents and 16 employees had latent tuberculosis infection. One resident had active pulmonary tuberculosis disease, which was the likely source of latent tuberculosis infection among 8 residents and 16 employees. Investigators did not observe a clear pattern between the ventilation system and tuberculosis transmission. HHE Program investigators recommended that residents be monitored clinically for signs and symptoms of active tuberculosis disease at least once a month. Until a risk assessment shows they can be done less often, tuberculosis screening for residents, employees, and direct care volunteers in the area of concern should be continued at least every 6 months. Similarly, employees with a prior negative skin test should get a tuberculin skin test at least every 6 months and employees with a positive tuberculin skin test in the past should have a medical evaluation for tuberculosis at least every 6 months, or until the risk assessment suggests otherwise. The ventilation system should be upgraded to provide improved filtration in resident areas and air temperatures kept in accordance with current guidelines for nursing homes.
• Subjects:
  Bacterial Infections Communicable Diseases Health Care Facilities Workforce And Services Health Personnel Lung Occupational Health Respiratory System Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety Ventilation
• Keywords:
  Bacteria Bacterial-disease Bacterial-infections Disease-incidence Disease-transmission Health-care-facilities Health-care-personnel Infectious-diseases Long-term Care Medical-monitoring Medical-personnel Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Nurses Nursing Care Facilities Nursing Home OSHA Region 10 Pulmonary-system-disorders Respiratory-system-disorders Skilled Nursing Facilities Tuberculosis Ventilation-systems

  More +
• Source:
  Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, HETA 2012-0137-3178, 2013 Jun ; :1-27
• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA201201373178
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Alaska ; OSHA Region 10
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSHEFS - Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  34 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Booher, Donald E. ; Brown, Stefanie M. ; Eisenberg, Judith S. ; Feary, Donna ; Feldmann, Karl D. ; Galloway, Ellen ; Luo, Robert ; Mase, Sundari ; Mitruka, Kiren ; Porter, Kimberly ; Winfree, Mary
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20042588
• Citation:
  NIOSH [2013]. Health hazard evaluation report: evaluation of exposure ; to tuberculosis among employees at a long-term care facility. By de ; Perio MA, Niemeier RT. Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health and ; Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National ; Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, NIOSH HETA No. 2012- ; 0137-3178,
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2013
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  623110 - Nursing Care Facilities (Skilled Nursing Facilities) - (NAICS)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:934dd8b3404ce2cd87b834ac11366afb09d23b7d1b8c3f529ec8d08c90d94c8df496f0d3ae2d0525c44a8b603e67370128084510261da2ce62863eebf0445970
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/172468/cdc_172468_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.59 MB ]