Patients with pulmonary tuberculosis at risk for delayed isolation

The objective was to investigate the incidence of delayed or unsuccessful isolation of hospitalized pulmonary TB patients as well as the contributing factors. After removing those who had a stay of more than one day and those who had just attended the emergency room, the patients with pulmonary TB at a university were included in this retrospective study. The delayed or no isolation group included patients who were not isolated for days at a time. We contrasted the clinical observations and diagnostic test results of individuals handled with timely isolation against delayed or no isolation (D-isolation) (T-isolation). Patients with pulmonary TB were included in the study. Isolation was sometimes imposed late or not at all, while other times it was done so quickly. In contrast to patients in the D-isolation group, patients in the T-isolation group had chest X-rays that revealed typical TB abnormalities. On univariate analysis, older age, admission route (emergency room vs. other), admitting department, negative acid-fast bacilli (AFB) stain, and negative MTB PCR were additional characteristics that were substantially associated with delayed or no isolation. On multivariate analysis, an atypical chest X-ray finding, negative sputum AFB stains, admission through an outpatient clinic, admission to a department other than infectious diseases or pulmonology, and admission to these risk variables were identified as risk factors for isolation failure. Atypical radiological features and negative results from direct TB diagnostic testing were the main reasons why patients with pulmonary TB were delayed from being isolated or were not isolated at all.