Search

Health care workers are at increased risk of nosocomial transmission of tuberculosis (TB). This study aimed to determine the prevalence of TB among health care workers and its associated factors. A retrospective analysis was conducted using database of TB screening program at Hospital Canselor Tuanku Mukhriz (HCTM) over the period of three years (2018-2020). The prevalence rate of TB showed increasing trend, from 1.54 per 100 health care workers in 2018 to 5.02 per 100 health care workers in 2020. Aged group of 31-40 had higher risk for contracting TB (p<0.001), health support workers had significant association with TB acquisition (p=0.008), workers in Diagnostic Laboratory Department had the high risk of getting infected with TB (p<0.001) and the workplace with the highest prevalence was in laboratory (45.9%). In terms of TB index cases among health care workers, 16 cases (69.5%) were pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB), 6 cases (26.1%) were extrapulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB) and 1 case (4.4%) had both PTB and EPTB. It was crucial for health care workers to be aware of these significant associations and for relevant authorities to carry out protective measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the deadliest diseases worldwide, caused by members of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC), commonly by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) and Mycobacterium bovis. In Malaysia, Sabah is one of the states of public health concern with the highest TB cases. Clinical presentations of TB and non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) lung disease are similar, and mycobacteria appear to be identical under standard diagnosis with sputum smear microscopy, causing difficulty to diagnose TB. Identification of Mycobacterium species is essential for effective management of mycobacterial diseases treatment and their control strategy. Thus, this study aimed to identify the Mycobacterium species from suspected TB patients in Sabah using molecular methods. Sputum samples (n=595) were screened with GeneXpert MTB/RIF (Xpert), and positive TB samples (n=67) were processed and cultured in BACTEC MGIT. Forty-five isolates were successfully recovered in MGIT and characterisation of the mycobacterial isolates using PCR and/or sequencing with rpoB, RD9, hsp65, and 16S rRNA genes confirmed the presence of Mtb in 41 samples, and four non-mycobacteria, i.e. Microbacterium laevaniformans, Streptomyces sp., Streptomyces misionensis and Gordonia sp. These non-mycobacteria isolates showed negative results when tested directly with Xpert. In conclusion, Mtb is the predominant species of MTBC circulating in Sabah. The presence of non-mycobacteria in this study was due to bacterial contamination in MGIT, not bacterial cross-reactivity in Xpert, implying the high sensitivity and specificity of Xpert for diagnosis of TB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ocular tuberculosis is an ocular infection caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (TB). About 5-10% of ocular inflammation cases are caused by ocular TB. Spectrum of ocular TB is diverse, affecting any part of the adnexa, different layers and structures of the globe, orbital contents, optic nerve to the orbital apex posteriorly. It can be associated with or without systemic manifestation. Posterior uveitis is the most common presentation of ocular tuberculosis. Subretinal haemorrhage secondary to choroidal neovascularization (CNV) is a rare complication in ocular tuberculosis. We report a rare case of secondary choroidal neovascularization in a 9-year-old boy with bilateral eye choroidal tuberculoma with underlying miliary tuberculosis. He was treated with intravitreal ranibizumab and intravitreal recombinant-tissue plasminogen activator (r-TPA) injection. The CNV resolved, however, vision was poor due to atrophic fovea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tuberculosis (TB) has become a worldwide public concern with 10.4 million new cases reported in 2015 and 1.4 million deaths. More importantly, an increase in trend in TB incidence among healthcare workers has become a major concern. Therefore, the present study was conducted to explore the knowledge and practice towards TB and the factors associated with it among nurses in a teaching hospital. The present study used cross-sectional design and stratified sampling method. A total of 275 nurses in a teaching hospital participated in this study. The knowledge and practice on management of TB was measured using a structured questionnaire. Majority of the respondents had good knowledge and practice on management of TB represented by 70.2% and 63.3%, respectively. However, knowledge gap (1.8%) and practice gap (0.4%) were identified in method of sputum collection. Work place setting was the only demographic factor found significantly associated with level of knowledge and practice (p=0.028). Level of knowledge and practice on management of TB identified among nurses was not associated with many socio-demographic factors. Nurses as frontline healthcare workers are at high risk of being exposed due to frequent contact with various patients especially those who are undiagnosed and TB suspect patients. Hence, implementation of TB Infection Control (TBIC) measures is important to minimize the risk of infection and cross-infection within hospital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eradication of tuberculosis seems to be a long way off especially with the growing of drug resistance tuberculosis and HIV co-infection tuberculosis. The gaps in our knowledge and the limited sensitive and specific biomarkers especially for latent tuberculosis infection make it defensive. The fate of tuberculosis treatment ranged from cured to failure and there are many risk factors involved apart from the immune state and age. Therefore, this review focuses on the understanding of tuberculosis disease progression and the associated risk factors of the events in the disease progression. This article also highlights the diagnostic and predictive marker that may predict the disease progression. In addition, this review highlights the potential use of rifabutin in tuberculosis treatment regimen. It is hoped that this review could give an overview on future directions of research in tuberculosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genitourinary system is the second most common site of tuberculosis (TB) after pulmonary system. Tuberculosis of the prostate is a rare manifestation of genitourinary tuberculosis. It is even more uncommon if occurring in an immune-competent individual. Prostate TB is usually an incidental finding in transurethral resection of prostate (TURP). Here, we report a case of TB of the prostate in a 70-year-old man who had benign prostatic hyperplasia for two years. TB was diagnosed incidentally post-TURP. In this report, we also discuss additional tests which may help in establishing the diagnosis of genitourinary tuberculosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]