Centro de Documentacion de Fundación MAPFRE - Hospitals take aim at TB exposure

MAP20071023689

Hospitals take aim at TB exposure / by Elaine Johnson

Sumario: The resurgence of TB caught public-health experts by surprise. The number of cases increased by 20 percent between 1985 and 1992. It had been years since TB sanitariums disappeared from the landscape; the battle against this ancient disease was considered won. Infection with mycobacterium tuberculosis occurs when a susceptible person inhales airbone particles that carry the disease, and these particles reach the alveoli of the lungs. Once in the alveoli, the organisms spread throughout the body. The risk of exposure to the disease increases in a hospital environment. Patients with TB often must undergo cough-inducing procedures, in which they expel infectious particles into the air. Since these patients are confined to small rooms, the concentration of organisms can build up, which puts healthcare workers at even greater risk

En: Safety & health. - Itasca. - Vol. 152, nº 5, november 1995 ; p. 56-61

1. Tuberculosis . 2. Medicina laboral . 3. Enfermedades profesionales . 4. Enfermedades pulmonares . 5. Enfermedades infecciosas . 6. Riesgo laboral . 7. Centros sanitarios . 8. Personal sanitario . 9. Medicina preventiva . I. Title. II. Título: Safety & health.