Sitemap

health advisory Hospital Diseases 2007-11-12 20:37:44

If a person never came in contact any other tuberculosis-infected person, is it possible for him to develop tuberculosis? How? I already know the tuberculosis bacteria and the contamination aspect so please don't just post irrelevant information. I'm looking for someone who knows the history of the disease and not something from wikipedia.

Answer:

The site of TB infection is most often the lungs, but the organism can attack other organs in the body. If you come into contact with urine from an infected kidney, for example, you could, theoretically, contract it. However, it usually takes prolonged exposure to contract the disease. I once worked in a TB laboratory and have never had a positive TB test - I used reasonable precautions when working with the patient specimens and cultures.

If you've had a positive TB test and know of no known contacts, keep in mind that you could have been exposed without knowing the source. Some years ago there was an outbreak of TB in Kentucky. The outbreak was traced back to a chicken processing plant. One employee had TB and spread it to others. The plant had plenty of ventilation, except that there was little exchange of air between the interior of the building and the exterior. The same infected air was being circulated throughout the plant, exposing everyone in it!.

---

The only thing that causes tuberculosis is inhaling the bacteria... if an infected person has coughed, sneezed or even spoke in a room, the bacteria itself can remain airborne for hours... so technically you could "catch" it by not being directly exposed to an infected person. (Which really makes you wonder how anyone every worked in places like Waverly Hills Sanatorium without becoming infected.)