An adult woman is admitted to an isolation unit in the hospital after tuberculosis was detected during a pre-employment physical. Although frightened about her diagnosis, she is anxious to cooperate with the therapeutic regimen. The teaching plan includes information regarding the most common means of transmitting the tubercle bacillus from one individual to another. Which contamination is usually responsible?
A. Eating utensils
B. Hands
C. Milk products
D. Droplet nuclei
Correct Answer: D. Droplet nuclei.
The most frequent means of transmission of the tubercle bacillus is by droplet nuclei. The bacillus is present in the air as a result of coughing, sneezing, and expectoration of sputum by an infected person. Although usually a lung infection, tuberculosis is a multi-system disease with protean manifestation. The principal mode of spread is through inhalation of infected aerosolized droplets.
Option A: The tubercle bacillus is not transmitted by eating utensils. Some exogenous microbes can be transmitted via reservoirs such as linens or eating utensils. The TB bacteria are put into the air when a person with TB disease of the lungs or throat coughs, speaks or sings. People nearby may breathe in these bacteria and become infected.
Option B: Hands are the primary method of transmission of the common cold. When a person breathes in TB bacteria, the bacteria can settle in the lungs and begin to grow. From there, they can move through the blood to other parts of the body, such as the kidney, spine, and brain.
Option C: The tubercle bacillus is not transmitted by means of contaminated food. Contact with contaminated food or water could cause outbreaks of salmonella, infectious hepatitis, typhoid, or cholera.