Occupational Risk of Airborne Mycobacterium tuberculosis Exposure: A Situational Analysis in a Three-Tier Public Healthcare System in South Africa

Dikeledi O. Matuka, Thabang Duba, Zethembiso Ngcobo, Felix Made, Lufuno Muleba, Tebogo Nthoke and Tanusha S. Singh
Additional contact information
Dikeledi O. Matuka: National Institute for Occupational Health (NIOH), National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS), Johannesburg 2000, South Africa
Thabang Duba: National Institute for Occupational Health (NIOH), National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS), Johannesburg 2000, South Africa
Zethembiso Ngcobo: National Institute for Occupational Health (NIOH), National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS), Johannesburg 2000, South Africa
Felix Made: National Institute for Occupational Health (NIOH), National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS), Johannesburg 2000, South Africa
Lufuno Muleba: National Institute for Occupational Health (NIOH), National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS), Johannesburg 2000, South Africa
Tebogo Nthoke: National Institute for Occupational Health (NIOH), National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS), Johannesburg 2000, South Africa
Tanusha S. Singh: National Institute for Occupational Health (NIOH), National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS), Johannesburg 2000, South Africa

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 19, 1-15

Abstract: This study aimed to detect airborne Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) at nine public health facilities in three provinces of South Africa and determine possible risk factors that may contribute to airborne transmission. Personal samples ( n = 264) and stationary samples ( n = 327) were collected from perceived high-risk areas in district, primary health clinics (PHCs) and TB facilities. Quantitative real-time (RT) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used for TB analysis. Walkabout observations and work practices through the infection prevention and control (IPC) questionnaire were documented. Statistical analysis was carried out using Stata version 15.2 software. Airborne MTB was detected in 2.2% of samples (13/572), and 97.8% were negative. District hospitals and Western Cape province had the most TB-positive samples and identified risk areas included medical wards, casualty, and TB wards. MTB-positive samples were not detected in PHCs and during the summer season. All facilities reported training healthcare workers (HCWs) on TB IPC. The risk factors for airborne MTB included province, type of facility, area or section, season, lack of UVGI, and ineffective ventilation. Environmental monitoring, PCR, IPC questionnaire, and walkabout observations can estimate the risk of TB transmission in various settings. These findings can be used to inform management and staff to improve the TB IPC programmes.

Keywords: TB; airborne transmission; occupational health; healthcare workers; environmental sampling; real-time PCR; TB infection control; ventilation; UVGI; hierarchy of controls (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/19/10130/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/19/10130/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:19:p:10130-:d:643962

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().