THE INTERVENTION AGAINST AN OUTBREAK OF PULMONARY TUBERCULOSIS IN THE DORMITORY OF CONSTRUCTION LABORERS

—Connection with Approaches from Public Health, Med ical Treatment, Social Welfare, and Labor Management—

Abstract

An outbreak of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) in a dormitory of construction laborers took place, and this outbreak was presumed to be caused by the same sourse of infection, based on the results of restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis and other findings. After the first patient was admitted to the hospital with active TB, 18new other TB patients were discovered by repeated contacts examinations. They were all male and single, and were aged from 41 to 67 years old (mean age 51.7). Among 19patients, only 4 patients had a health insurance. As these patients lived together in the same dormitory, to prevent infection through close contact in the dormitory, repeated contacts examinations were further performed. In addition, several medical, social, and economical interventions were needed for these patients. It was also required to improve labor conditions in this construction company. It was concluded that comprehensive approaches including public health, medical treatment, social welfare, and labor management aspects were indispensable to prevent TB among relatively poor laborers.