Transmission of Mycobacterium tuberculosis from a cadaver to an embalmer
Article Abstract:
Researchers report the first known case of an embalmer who contracted tuberculosis from the cadaver he was embalming. Over two years after embalming one patient, he tested positive for tuberculosis. He had no risk factors for tuberculosis and no known exposure to anyone who had tuberculosis. Embalming involves aspirating blood and body fluids from the cadaver and replacing them with a preservative solution. Genetic analysis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolated from both men revealed that the two strains were identical.
Publication Name: The New England Journal of Medicine
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0028-4793
Year: 2000
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
Brief report: rifampin-resistant tuberculosis in a patient receiving rifabutin prophylaxis
Article Abstract:
All HIV-infected patients should be screened for tuberculosis before they begin taking rifabutin to prevent Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) infection. A 35-year-old HIV-infected man was treated for tuberculosis with rifampin and several other anti-tuberculosis drugs. Ten months later he was considered cured and began taking rifabutin to prevent MAC infection. Two months later, he developed symptoms of tuberculosis again. Despite treatment with antibiotics, he died of respiratory failure. When samples of his blood and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid were cultured, they grew a strain of Mycobacterium tuberculosis that was resistant to rifampin and rifabutin. Otherwise, the organism was identical to the strain that had caused his initial bout of tuberculosis. Rifabutin is chemically related to rifampin and there are concerns that its prophylactic use might increase the number of bacterial strains that are resistant to rifampin, which is one of the major anti-tuberculosis drugs.
Publication Name: The New England Journal of Medicine
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0028-4793
Year: 1996
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
Transmission of Mycobacterium tuberculosis by a fiberoptic bronchoscope: identification by DNA fingerprinting
Article Abstract:
A contaminated fiberoptic bronchoscope appears to have been responsible for transmitting Mycobacterium (M.) tuberculosis, the bacterium that causes tuberculosis. During a routine investigation of M. tuberculosis strains isolated from patients with tuberculosis, samples from two patients were found to have identical strains. Follow-up revealed that the two people had been patients in the same hospital. One had a bronchoscopy and was diagnosed with tuberculosis. The other had a bronchoscopy for lung cancer two days later and developed tuberculosis six months later. No other risk factor was identified.
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 1997
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
- Abstracts: Possible effectiveness of clarithromycin and rifabutin for cryptosporidiosis chemoprophylaxis in HIV disease. Discontinuation of Chemoprophylaxis against Pneumocystis carinii Pneumonia in Patients with HIV Infection
- Abstracts: Sensitivity and Specificity of Helical Computed Tomography in the Diagnosis of Pulmonary Embolism: A Systematic Review
- Abstracts: Influenza and the rates of hospitalization for respiratory disease among infants and young children. Safety of trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine in children 6 to 23 months old