Infection Control

Many healthcare workers refuse TB treatment

Infection Control Weekly Monitor, February 24, 2010

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A study published in the February issue of Chest indicates that half of healthcare workers refused treatment for latent TB. Healthcare workers also failed to complete treatment more often than any other group. Of the 209 prescribed treatment, 125 did not finish the full course.

Healthcare workers were nearly five times as likely to decline treatment for latent TB, according to Reuters. The study did not indicate why healthcare workers were less likely to accept treatment, but lead researcher Dr. C. Robert Horsburgh Jr. at the Boston University School of Public Health, says they may have felt the risk to develop active TB was not high.

Visit OSHA Healthcare Advisor for more on this study.



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