Transmission of Multidrug-Resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis Among Persons Exposed in a Medical Examiner's Office, New York

Abstract

AbstractObjective:To determine the prevalence of and risk factors for having a positive tuberculin skin test (TST) result among employees at a medical examiner's office (MEO).Design:Cohort study, environmental investigation.Setting:Several employees at a medical examiner's office were found to have positive TST results after autopsies were performed on persons with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB).Participants:Employees of the MEO.Results:Of 18 MEO employees, 5 (28%) had a positive TST result; 2 of these 5 had TST conversions. We observed a trend between TST conversion and participation in autopsies on persons with MDR-TB (2 of 2 converters versus 3 of 13 employees with negative TST; relative risk=4.3; 95% confidence interval 1.61 to 11.69; P=0.l0). The environmental investigation revealed that the autopsy room was at positive pressure relative to the rest of the MEO and that air from the autopsy room mixed throughout the facility.Conclusions:A systematic approach to preventing transmission of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in autopsy suites should include effective environmental controls and routine tuberculin skin testing of employees.