Report new cases to Infection Control department (916) 734- 7102. When Infection Control identifies a case with a positive AFB culture they will inform Employee Health Services. Any department where exposures occurred before the patient was placed into isolation will be tracked. A letter will be sent to the department to identify employees who were exposed to that patient. The list of names provided by the department will be sent to Employee Health Services (fax number is (916) 734-7510). Employee health will send a notification letter for initial testing and in again three months for a post exposure to all identified employees. For more details related to TB see Tuberculosis Screening for UC Davis Health System Employees.

TB (PPD)testing is required for all new UC Davis Health System employees (policy # 2164 - V-A #2). Annual testing is required for employees with patient contact, use elevators with patients or go to the cafeteria. Designated areas will be tested twice a year. For persons who test positive, a baseline chest x-ray will be required along with a yearly symptom interview. Chest x-rays are not routinely done, but will be ordered by employee health only if symptoms have changed.

Each employee will receive an automailer yearly as a courtesy, reminding them to complete their annual testing. If the employee does not comply, a 30, 60 or 90 day notice will be sent. There is grace period of 10 days after the 90 day notice to have the test completed, otherwise you will be requested to be at risk, being taken off work by your manager until the test is completed (also stated in policy # 2164).

Managers are notified of employees who are 30, 60 or 90 days late for testing. Employees will not be removed from the list. This alerts managers to have the employee complete their PPD when they return. The mangers will receive a weekly list of all employees who have completed testing.

Automailers for TB are specific for those who require a PPD or a symptom interview. For those who are positive, the automailer is a symptom interview to be completed and faxed or placed in interoffice mail to Employee Health Services Cypress Building. The fax number is (916) 734-7510.

A phone line is available to leave your name, social security or employee ID number and answer the symptom interview questions. This phone line is retrieved daily during employee health operational hours. The " symptom interview " line is (916) 734-7511.

All data will be placed into the employee health database within the same day of receiving. Status reports are sent to managers on the 15th of the month. The report may still have the employee listed on the 30, 60 ,or 90 day report, if the test was performed and read after the 15th.

The weekly reports sent to managers should show the completion of the test if the data was placed after the 15th. INH is offered to all converters who are current health system employees. An appointment will be set up with a provider to discuss the risks and benefits. The new American Thoracic Society recommendation is 9 months of INH treatment. See fact sheet about BCG.