When May a Patient in Treatment for TB Return to the AOD Program?
To prevent the spread of TB in their facilities, AOD programs must identify, isolate (or remove), and treat (or refer for treatment), all patients and staff with active TB disease. Staff and patients with active disease may not return to the program until it is medically determined that they are not infectious. Fortunately, infectiousness in patients with TB disease declines quickly once effective therapy is implemented. TB-infected patients who have received adequate treatment for 2 to 3 weeks, have responded to the treatment, and have had three consecutive negative smear examinations from sputum taken on 3 separate days are no longer infectious. It will take about 2 months for most infectious TB patients to become noninfectious.
