Dentists and M. tuberculosis, Nigeria | CDC EID

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Volume 16, Number 9–September 2010
Dispatch
Exposure of Dentists to Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Ibadan, Nigeria
Simeon I. Cadmus, Victoria N. Okoje, Babafemi O. Taiwo, and Dick van Soolingen
Author affiliations: University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria (S.I. Cadmus, V.N. Okoje); Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA (B.O. Taiwo); Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, the Netherlands (D. van Soolingen); and National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, the Netherlands (D. van Soolingen)

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Abstract
To determine the prevalence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection among dental patients and to assess dentists’ risk for exposure, we conducted a study among dental patients at a large tertiary hospital in Nigeria, a country where tuberculosis is endemic. Ten (13%) of 78 sputum samples obtained were positive for M. tuberculosis.

Tuberculosis (TB) is a serious public health concern globally, and almost half of new infections are undetected (1). The infection is spread by airborne droplet nuclei that contain Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which remain airborne for minutes to hours after expectoration through coughing, sneezing, or talking by persons with pulmonary TB (2).

Acquisition of TB in healthcare facilities is a well-recognized hazard for healthcare workers and patients. Dental practitioners may be at increased risk because they work in close proximity to potentially infectious secretions (3). The risk is higher in areas like Nigeria, where TB is endemic; control practices are poor; and compliance with guidelines for preventing TB in healthcare facilities, such as those issued by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (4), is limited.

We initiated this study to assess the risk for exposure of dentists to M. tuberculosis infection and to determine its prevalence among dental patients. Participants were patients in the dental clinic of University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria, the largest hospital in the country.


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