Use and Efficacy of Tuberculosis Infection Control Practices at Hospitals With Previous Outbreaks of Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis

2001 ◽  
Vol 22 (7) ◽  
pp. 449-455 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jerome I. Tokars ◽  
George F. McKinley ◽  
Joan Otten ◽  
Charles Woodley ◽  
Emilia M. Sordillo ◽  
...  

AbstractObjective:To evaluate the implementation and efficacy of selected Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for preventing spread ofMycobacterium tuberculosis.Design:Analysis of prospective observational data.Setting:Two medical centers where outbreaks of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) had occurred.Participants:All hospital inpatients who had active TB or who were placed in TB isolation and healthcare workers who were assigned to selected wards on which TB patients were treated.Methods:During 1995 to 1997, study personnel prospectively recorded information on patients who had TB or were in TB isolation, performed observations of TB isolation rooms, and recorded tuberculin skin-test results of healthcare workers. Genetic typing ofM tuberculosisisolates was performed by restriction fragment-length polymorphism analysis.Results:We found that only 8.6% of patients placed in TB isolation proved to have TB; yet, 19% of patients with pulmonary TB were not isolated on the first day of hospital admission. Specimens were ordered for acid-fast bacillus smear and results received promptly, and most TB isolation rooms were under negative pressure. Among persons entering TB isolation rooms, 44.2% to 97.1% used an appropriate (particulate, high-efficiency particulate air or N95) respirator, depending on the hospital and year; others entering the rooms used a surgical mask or nothing. We did not find evidence of transmission of TB among healthcare workers (based on tuberculin skin-test results) or patients (based on epidemiological investigation and genetic typing).Conclusions:We found problems in implementation of some TB infection control measures, but no evidence of healthcare-associated transmission, possibly in part because of limitations in the number of patients and workers studied. Similar evaluations should be performed at hospitals treating TB patients to find inadequacies and guide improvements in infection control.

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ernest Peresu ◽  
J. Christo Heunis ◽  
N. Gladys Kigozi ◽  
Diana De Graeve

Abstract Background Eswatini is facing a critical shortage of human resources for health (HRH) and limited access to multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) treatment in rural areas. This study assessed multiple stakeholders’ perceptions of task-shifting directly observed treatment (DOT) supervision and administration of intramuscular MDR-TB injections to lay health workers (LHWs). Methods A mixed methods study comprising a cross-sectional survey using a semi-structured questionnaire with community treatment supporters (CTSs) and a focus group discussion with key stakeholders including representatives from the Eswatini Ministry of Health (MOH), donor organisations, professional regulatory institutions, nursing academia, civil society and healthcare providers was conducted in May 2017. Descriptive statistics, thematic content analysis and data triangulation aided in the interpretation of results. Results A large majority of CTSs (n = 78; 95.1%) were female and 33 (40.2%) were older than 50 years. Most (n = 7; 70.0%) key stakeholders had over 10 years of work experience in policy-making, advocacy in the fields of HRH or day-to-day practice in MDR-TB management. Task-shifting of MDR-TB injection administration was implemented without national policy guidance and regulation. Stakeholders viewed the strategy to be driven by the prevailing shortage of professional frontline HRH and limited access to MDR-TB treatment. Task-shifting was perceived to improve medication adherence, and reduce stigma and transport-related MDR-TB treatment access barriers. Frontline healthcare workers and implementing donor partners fully supported task-shifting. Policy-makers and other stakeholders accepted task-shifting conditionally due to fears of poor standards of care related to perceived incompetence of CTSs. Appropriate compensation, adequate training and supervision, and non-financial incentives were suggested to retain CTSs. A holistic task-shifting policy and collaboration between the MOH, academia and nursing council in regulating the practice were recommended. Conclusions Stakeholders generally accepted the delegation of DOT supervision and administration of intramuscular MDR-TB injections to LHWs as a strategy to increase access to treatment, albeit with some apprehension. Findings from this study stress that task-shifting is not a panacea for HRH shortages, but a short-term solution that must form part of an overall simultaneous strategy to train, attract and retain adequate numbers of professional healthcare workers in Eswatini. To address some of the apprehension and ambivalence about expanding access to MDR-TB services through task-shifting, attention should be paid to important aspects such as competence-based training, certification and accreditation, adequate supportive on-the-job supervision, recognition, compensation, and expediting policy and regulatory support for LHWs.


2017 ◽  
Vol 61 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amber Arnold ◽  
Graham S. Cooke ◽  
Onn Min Kon ◽  
Martin Dedicoat ◽  
Marc Lipman ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The prolonged use of injectable agents in a regimen for the treatment of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is recommended by the World Health Organization, despite its association with ototoxicity and nephrotoxicity. We undertook this study to look at the relative adverse effects of capreomycin and amikacin. We reviewed the case notes of 100 consecutive patients treated at four MDR-TB treatment centers in the United Kingdom. The median total duration of treatment with an injectable agent was 178 days (interquartile range [IQR], 109 to 192 days; n = 73) for those with MDR-TB, 179 days (IQR, 104 to 192 days; n = 12) for those with MDR-TB plus fluoroquinolone resistance, and 558 days (IQR, 324 to 735 days; n = 8) for those with extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB). Injectable use was longer for those started with capreomycin (183 days; IQR, 123 to 197 days) than those started with amikacin (119 days; IQR, 83 to 177 days) (P = 0.002). Excluding patients with XDR-TB, 51 of 85 (60%) patients were treated with an injectable for over 6 months and 12 of 85 (14%) were treated with an injectable for over 8 months. Forty percent of all patients discontinued the injectable due to hearing loss. Fifty-five percent of patients experienced ototoxicity, which was 5 times (hazard ratio [HR], 5.2; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.2 to 22.6; P = 0.03) more likely to occur in those started on amikacin than in those treated with capreomycin only. Amikacin was associated with less hypokalemia than capreomycin (odds ratio, 0.28; 95% CI, 0.11 to 0.72), with 5 of 37 (14%) patients stopping capreomycin due to recurrent electrolyte loss. There was no difference in the number of patients experiencing a rise in the creatinine level of >1.5 times the baseline level. Hearing loss is frequent in this cohort, though its incidence is significantly lower in those starting capreomycin, which should be given greater consideration as a first-line agent.


2009 ◽  
Vol 30 (12) ◽  
pp. 1230-1232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott H. James ◽  
Juan A. Dumois ◽  
Allison F. Messina ◽  
Jay L. Gould ◽  
David M. Berman

A cross-sectional survey of 210 healthcare workers at a pediatric teaching hospital was performed to assess knowledge of published guidelines for proper measurement and documentation of tuberculin skin test Results. We conclude that many healthcare workers have inadequate knowledge for optimal measurement and documentation of tuberculin skin test results.


2016 ◽  
Vol 54 (3) ◽  
pp. 727-733 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maha R. Farhat ◽  
Karen R. Jacobson ◽  
Molly F. Franke ◽  
Devinder Kaur ◽  
Alex Sloutsky ◽  
...  

Molecular diagnostics that rapidly and accurately predict resistance to fluoroquinolone drugs and especially later-generation agents promise to improve treatment outcomes for patients with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis and prevent the spread of disease. Mutations in thegyrgenes are known to confer most fluoroquinolone resistance, but knowledge about the effects ofgyrmutations on susceptibility to early- versus later-generation fluoroquinolones and about the role of mutation-mutation interactions is limited. Here, we sequenced the fullgyrAandgyrBopen reading frames in 240 multidrug-resistant and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis strains and quantified their ofloxacin and moxifloxacin MIC by testing growth at six concentrations for each drug. We constructed a multivariate regression model to assess both the individual mutation effects and interactions on the drug MICs. We found thatgyrBmutations contribute to fluoroquinolone resistance both individually and through interactions withgyrAmutations. These effects were statistically significant. In these clinical isolates, severalgyrAandgyrBmutations conferred different levels of resistance to ofloxacin and moxifloxacin. Consideration ofgyrmutation combinations during the interpretation of molecular test results may improve the accuracy of predicting the fluoroquinolone resistance phenotype. Further, the differential effects ofgyrmutations on the activity of early- and later-generation fluoroquinolones requires further investigation and could inform the selection of a fluoroquinolone for treatment.


2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (6) ◽  
pp. 750-752 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey M. Collins ◽  
Mary Hunter ◽  
Wanda Gordon ◽  
Russell R. Kempker ◽  
Henry M. Blumberg ◽  
...  

Following large declines in tuberculosis transmission the United States, large-scale screening programs targeting low-risk healthcare workers are increasingly a source of false-positive results. We report a large cluster of presumed false-positive tuberculin skin test results in healthcare workers following a change to 50-dose vials of Tubersol tuberculin.Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2018;39:750–752


2014 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 150-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dennis Falzon ◽  
Fuad Mirzayev ◽  
Fraser Wares ◽  
Inés Garcia Baena ◽  
Matteo Zignol ◽  
...  

Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) (resistance to at least isoniazid and rifampicin) will influence the future of global TB control. 88% of estimated MDR-TB cases occur in middle- or high-income countries, and 60% occur in Brazil, China, India, the Russian Federation and South Africa.The World Health Organization collects country data annually to monitor the response to MDR-TB. Notification, treatment enrolment and outcome data were summarised for 30 countries, accounting for >90% of the estimated MDR-TB cases among notified TB cases worldwide.In 2012, a median of 14% (interquartile range 6–50%) of estimated MDR-TB cases were notified in the 30 countries studied. In 15 of the 30 countries, the number of patients treated for MDR-TB in 2012 (71 681) was >50% higher than in 2011. Median treatment success was 53% (interquartile range 40–70%) in the 25 countries reporting data for 30 021 MDR-TB cases who started treatment in 2010.Although progress has been noted in the expansion of MDR-TB care, urgent efforts are required in order to provide wider access to diagnosis and treatment in most countries with the highest burden of MDR-TB.


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