Tuberculosis in health professionals: a new perspective on an old problem.

The objective of this review was to contribute to the debate on the nosocomial transmission of TB among health professionals in a country where TB is endemic. Prior to 1900, there was no reason to believe that health professionals interacting with TB patients were more susceptible to becoming infected with the bacillus than was the general population. Between 1920 and 1930, various studies showed significant findings regarding the rates of positive tuberculin skin tests among students in the area of health care. However, most clinicians remained skeptical about the susceptibility of health professionals to becoming infected with TB. In the various locales where the treatment of patients with TB has been implemented, health professionals have been described as an especially predisposed population to becoming infected with and developing active TB. It is urgent that the scientific community and health professionals become mobilized, recognizing themselves as a population at risk of developing TB, and that actions be taken in order to minimize the potential risks of acquiring the disease at locales where patients with TB are treated.