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Pseudo-outbreak of tuberculosis in an acute-care general hospital: epidemiology and clinical implications
W Cronin1, E Rodriguez, S Valway
1Division of Tuberculosis Control, Epidemiology and Disease Control Program, Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Baltimore 21201, USA.
Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology
|June 5, 1998
Abstract:
A 10-fold increase in patients with Mycobacterium tuberculosis-positive specimens in one hospital laboratory prompted an investigation. Clinical and epidemiological data, along with M tuberculosis DNA fingerprinting results, indicated that laboratory contamination led to nine false-positive M tuberculosis cultures. Pseudo-infection should be considered in patients with unusual tuberculosis presentations, negative acid-fast bacilli smears, and only one positive culture with a low colony count.