Tuberculosis Outbreak in a Chronic Respiratory Care Ward at a Hospital in Southern Taiwan, 2023

Pei-Chia Chang¹, Pei-Yi Lin^2＊, Chien-Chung Huang², Hui-Wen Chang³, Kai-Yun Cheng³, Huai-Te Tsai², Jin-Yuan Syu⁴, Miin-Chyi Lu¹, Hui-Rong Liu²

2026 Vol.42 No.6

Correspondence Author： Pei-Yi Lin

Abstract：

    Patients admitted to chronic respiratory care wards are long-term ventilator-dependent, who often are bedridden, have multiple chronic conditions and weakened immune systems. These patients are at high-risk for tuberculosis. Additionally, because of the frequent use of aerosol-generating procedures such as suctioning, tuberculosis outbreaks can easily occur if the ward has poor ventilation or inadequate infection control measures.
    During June 2022 to May 2023, four patients in a chronic respiratory care ward at a hospital in southern Taiwan were diagnosed with tuberculosis. Genetic typing found that patients were infected with identical bacterial strains, indicating a tuberculosis outbreak. Following the detection of the outbreak, health authorities invited pulmonologists, infection-control experts, and environmental-ventilation specialists to conduct an on-site investigation. They identified the likely causes of the outbreak, including failure to promptly identify and isolate potentially infectious patients, incomplete screening and treatment of contacts, and poorly designed ventilation systems.
    Based on the experts' recommendations, the hospital implemented improvements and effectively prevented further spread of the outbreak.

Keywords：chronic respiratory care ward, tuberculosis, outbreak