Abstract
A subcommitte was appointed by the Joint Tuberculosis Committee of the British Thoracic Society to review and bring up to date guidelines on control measures for tuberculosis. The updated code of practice emphasises that all cases of tuberculosis must be notified. A minority of patients need admission, and those with positive sputum smears should be regarded as infectious until they have received two weeks of chemotherapy. NHS staff at risk should be protected, and evidence of infectious tuberculosis should be sought as routine among certain prospective NHS employees, schoolteachers, and others. Contact tracing should be vigorously pursued, and all entrants to Britain from countries where tuberculosis is common should be screened. BCG vaccination should be offered in selected instances, and local organisation of tuberculosis services should be extended.
Full text
PDF
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Bradley B. L., Kerr K. M., Leitch A. G., Lamb D. Notification of tuberculosis: can the pathologist help? BMJ. 1988 Sep 3;297(6648):595–595. doi: 10.1136/bmj.297.6648.595. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Capewell S., Leitch A. G. Tuberculin reactivity in a chest clinic: the effects of age and prior BCG vaccination. Br J Dis Chest. 1986 Jan;80(1):37–44. doi: 10.1016/0007-0971(86)90007-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- George R. H., Gully P. R., Gill O. N., Innes J. A., Bakhshi S. S., Connolly M. An outbreak of tuberculosis in a children's hospital. J Hosp Infect. 1986 Sep;8(2):129–142. doi: 10.1016/0195-6701(86)90039-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Jachuck S. J., Bound C. L., Jones C. E., Bryson M. Is a preemployment chest radiograph necessary for NHS employees? Br Med J (Clin Res Ed) 1988 Apr 23;296(6630):1187–1188. doi: 10.1136/bmj.296.6630.1187. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Sutherland I., Springett V. H. Effectiveness of BCG vaccination in England and Wales in 1983. Tubercle. 1987 Jun;68(2):81–92. doi: 10.1016/0041-3879(87)90023-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Sutherland I., Springett V. H. The effects of the scheme for BCG vaccination of schoolchildren in England and Wales and the consequences of discontinuing the scheme at various dates. J Epidemiol Community Health. 1989 Mar;43(1):15–24. doi: 10.1136/jech.43.1.15. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]