A health educator is performing a health promotion workshop with the staff of a large, urban homeless shelter, and a component of the teaching centers around tuberculosis. One of the staff members comments, "Anyone who's had contact with tuberculosis in the past can give it to any of the other residents of the shelter, even if they didn't get sick themselves." How could the educator best respond to this comment?
A) "Many people do manage to fight off the infection, but you're right: they can still spread it by coughing or sneezing."
B) "If someone has been previously exposed to tuberculosis, they are particularly infectious because they are often unaware of the disease."
C) "Actually, people who have the latent form of the disease won't be sick and can't spread it either."
D) "There isn't any real risk of them spreading it, but we would like to vaccinate everyone who's had any contact with it in the past."

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Contact with M. tuberculosis without the development of progressive primary tuberculosis results in a latent infection that is not communicable. Vaccination is not a common intervention in the United States.

A Health Educator Is Performing a Health Promotion Workshop with the Staff