Tuberculosis in health care workers

a problem to be faced

Abstract

Since the beginning of the seventies of the last century, several authors have pointed to tuberculosis as a health risk to health service workers. Studies show that these professionals are four times more likely to get sick from TB than the general population and that health professionals in hospitals have a positive tuberculin test rate of 63.1% and conversion to 8.7% (10.7% Per 1,000 people per month). The risk factors associated with conversion to the tuberculin test are: (1) nosocomial exposure to a patient with pulmonary TB; (2) professional category of nurse; and (3) absence of biosafety measures implemented at the hospital. Several authors point out: (1) a very high rate of infection among health professionals, which is an object of concern both for the health infection control team and for occupational safety professionals; (2) a positive tuberculin test rate of 26.7% in health professionals, with the majority of these workers having direct contact with patients with smear-positive tuberculosis; and (3) that professionals with less than four years of exposure to the bacillus had higher test positive rates. According to data of the Division of Tuberculosis (DVTBC) of the Center for Epidemiological Surveillance - SES / SP considering the years 2006 to 2016, an average of 210 new cases of the disease are reported in health care workers. Given this scenario and the urgency of implementing specific preventive actions for all workers potentially exposed to Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Bacillus de Koch or BK). In this sense, DVST and CVE of the State Department of Health of São Paulo formed a Working Group (WG) for the construction of a Protocol for the Prevention of Occupational Tuberculosis (PPOT). The objective of this article is to present a model, form and content of this instrument for the prevention of a serious occupational disease and for the health promotion of potentially exposed workers.