Concentration Profiles of AirborneMycobacterium tuberculosisin a Hospital

Abstract

Pulmonary tuberculosis remains one of the major public health issues worldwide. However, concentration profiles of airborne Mycobacterium tuberculosis in hospitals and other medical facilities have not been well characterized. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to measure concentration profiles of airborne M. tuberculosis in a hospital including TB-patient related areas (TB-areas), and non-TB-patient related areas (non-TB-areas). A total of 58 airborne samples were collected by a filter and quantified by real-time qPCR system. It was found that the airborne M. tuberculosis concentrations in TB-areas were significantly higher than those in non-TB-areas. In regard to the profiles in the investigated hospital, the airborne M. tuberculosis concentrations from high to low were found in the waiting rooms and consulting rooms of medical department, emergency department, medical wards, main registry area, waiting rooms of ophthalmology department, and dining hall, respectively. In the medical wards area, it was found that the airborne M. tuberculosis concentrations in the room of a suspected TB patient were even higher than those found in negative pressure isolation rooms with TB patient. This suspected TB patient was, in fact, diagnosed as a TB patient a month later. In conclusion, concentration profiles of airborne M. tuberculosis in hospital environments were successfully characterized in our present study. In addition, it was strongly demonstrated that TB-areas do have higher airborne M. tuberculosis concentrations than non-TB-areas and implicate higher risks for nosocomial TB infection. Moreover, environmental monitoring of airborne M. tuberculosis might provide an early indicator for identification of TB patient.

Quantification of Airborne Influenza and Avian Influenza Virus in a Wet Poultry Market using a Filter/Real-time qPCR Method

“…However, this method is only qualitative or semi-quantitative, involving only positive or negative responses in a narrow dynamic range (less than four orders of magnitude) (Schafer et al 1998;Schafer et al 1999). In our previous study Chen and Li 2008), we successfully demonstrated that the filter/real-time qPCR method is a sensitive and quick method to quantify another important infectious bioaerosol, M. tuberculosis, in hospitals. This newly established technique shows promise for quantifying infectious bioaerosols in field samples with sensitivity and specificity.…”

Health Care Visits as a Risk Factor for Tuberculosis in Taiwan: A Population-Based Case–Control Study

“…26 A subsequent hospital-based study also revealed a high copy number of TB bacilli in areas where presumptive TB patients were most likely to stay. 27 In our analysis, we found that TB patients were most likely to be seen in the internal medicine, family medicine, and pulmonology services before diagnosis. The outpatient area of these specialties should therefore be the focus of intensified hospital infection control.…”

Evaluation of a method to detect Mycobacterium bovis in air samples from infected Eurasian badgers (Meles meles ) and their setts

“…However, studies in which M. tuberculosis has been detected in hospital environments by alternative methods used much longer sampling periods; for example, 8 h (Wan et al . ; Chen and Li ) and 4–7 days (Vadrot et al . ).…”

“…Detection of airborne M. tuberculosis complex bacteria has been demonstrated in hospital environments using PCR (Vadrot et al 2004;Chen and Li 2008). These studies raise the question of whether aerosolized M. bovis can be detected in the respiratory exhalations of tuberculous badgers or in aerosols generated in their vicinity.…”