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Resources for Health Care Professionals

Effective diagnosis, treatment, and management of tuberculosis (TB) requires close collaboration between the clinician and the public health department. The Oregon TB Program, in collaboration with local health departments, offers the following services:

  • disease surveillance;
  • consultation based on current guidelines and recommendations regarding the diagnosis and treatment of active TB disease and latent TB infection;
  • access to expert medical consultation;
  • For patients with TB disease: TB case management, directly observed therapy (DOT), free TB medications and incentives to facilitate adherence to prescribed treatment;
  • TB contact investigations;
  • education materials for providers and patients;
  • public health laboratory services.
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"Each Health Care Provider knowing of or attending a case or suspect case of any of the diseases, infections or conditions listed in OAR 333-018-0015 [including Mycobacterium tuberculosis and M. bovis] shall report such cases as specified. Where no Health Care Provider is in attendance, any individual knowing of such as case shall report in a similar manner. Each Health Care Facility...may establish administrative procedures to ensure that every case is reported. Each Licensed Laboratory shall report test results as specified in OAR 333-018-0015."

Reports should be made when any of the following is true:

  1. TB is one of the primary differential diagnoses. This often occurs when:
    • Signs and symptoms of TB are present and/or
    • The patient has an abnormal chest x-ray consistent with TB or
    • The patient is started on multi-drug therapy for TB
  2. When specimen smears are positive for acid fast bacilli (AFB)
  3. When the patient has a positive culture for M. tuberculosis complex (e.g. M. tuberculosis, M. bovis, M. canetti, M. africanum)
  4. When a pathology report is consistent with tuberculosis. (e.g. caseating or non-caseating granuloma, necrotizing granuloma)
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Tools for Local Health Departments

Check the Tools for LHDs page for lab resources, case management, DOT tools, TB training and more...