SS52-03 VACCINATION AND PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT (PPE) ISSUES AND MANDATES FOR HEALTH WORKERS: A PERSPECTIVE ON TUBERCULOSIS

Abstract Introduction The reservoir of active tuberculosis infection is latent tuberculosis (TB) infection (LTBI). This reservoir can be denuded by occupational health (OH) professionals aggressively testing new hires - in all occupations - and following that testing with LTBI short-course therapies. Because OHS providers are highly experienced in TB testing and interpretation, and have easy access to workers (easier than to primary MDs), OHS providers are in the ideal position to prevent active TB by “vaccinating” with antibiotic therapies. Materials and Methods, Results, Conclusions Several OH departments in US hospitals are preventing active TB in their healthcare worker population using three months of weekly INH+rifapentine or with four months of daily rifampicin. But in the US, healthcare workers are not getting TB from work, they are getting it from their country of birth. That means there’s no reason anymore to focus on testing just our healthcare workers: we should expand TB testing and LTBI therapy to all workers on hire, treat them appropriately to prevent activation, and eliminate annual testing for TB in areas where there are acceptable environmental controls.