Academic children's hospital partnership with public health to address mass pediatric community tuberculosis exposure.

Abstract

Objective: To illustrate how a partnership between an academic medical center and a public health department successfully responded to a large tuberculosis (TB) exposure at a community daycare center.

Setting: A multidisciplinary team rapidly established a dedicated TB Exposure Clinic to evaluate and screen exposed children requiring window prophylaxis.

Patients: The exposure affected 592 individuals, including 359 children under five-those at highest risk for severe disease.

Interventions: Given the vulnerability of young children to TB infection, timely evaluation and initiation of window prophylaxis were prioritized.

Results: Over two days, 162 children were assessed for TB window prophylaxis, and 110 additional children underwent TB screening.

Conclusions: By leveraging clinical expertise, interdisciplinary collaboration, and informatics infrastructure, the TB Exposure Clinic delivered rapid, comprehensive care while minimizing disruption to local healthcare systems. This model underscores the essential role of academic medical centers in supporting public health responses.