Abstract
SUMMARYBACKGROUND:Essential TB care in the European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA) comprises 21 standards for the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of TB that constitute the European Union Standards for Tuberculosis Care (ESTC).METHODS:In 2017, we conducted an audit on TB management and infection control measures against the ESTC standards. TB reference centres in five EU/EEA countries were purposely selected to represent the heterogeneous European TB burden and examine geographic variability.RESULTS:Data from 122 patients, diagnosed between 2012 and 2015 with multidrug-resistant TB (n = 49), extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB) (n = 11), pre-XDR-TB (n = 29) and drug-susceptible TB (n = 33), showed that TB diagnosis and treatment practices were in general in agreement with the ESTC.CONCLUSION:Overall, TB management and infection control practices were in agreement with the ESTC in the selected EU/EEA reference centres. Areas for improvement include strengthening of integrated care services and further implementation of patient-centred approaches.
Highlights
Essential TB care in the European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA) comprises 21 standards for the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of TB that constitute the European Union Standards for Tuberculosis Care (ESTC)
A multi-centre survey was performed between July and September 2017 in five TB reference centres located in EU/EEA countries with different TB epidemiological profiles: Centre 1; Centre 2
Screening for LTBI among healthcare staff, with either TST or interferon-gamma release assays (IGRAs), was routinely done at four centres for occupational health reasons. This survey aimed at assessing TB management in different EU/EEA settings against international standards for TB care that were relevant to the study period
Summary
Essential TB care in the European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA) comprises 21 standards for the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of TB that constitute the European Union Standards for Tuberculosis Care (ESTC). METHODS : In 2017, we conducted an audit on TB management and infection control measures against the ESTC standards. R E S U LT S : Data from 122 patients, diagnosed between 2012 and 2015 with multidrug-resistant TB (n 1⁄4 49), extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB) (n 1⁄4 11), preXDR-TB (n 1⁄4 29) and drug-susceptible TB (n 1⁄4 33), showed that TB diagnosis and treatment practices were in general in agreement with the ESTC. CONCLUSION : Overall, TB management and infection control practices were in agreement with the ESTC in the selected EU/EEA reference centres. KEYWORDS : multidrug-resistant TB; extensively drugresistant TB; TB-HIV co-infection; infection control; workplace safety
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