Attached for approval is the renewal customer agreement with Oxford Immunotec to provide lab services for tuberculosis (TB) prevention and control.
TB is a communicable disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. TB is spread from person to person through the air. When a person with pulmonary or laryngeal TB coughs, sneezes, speaks, or sings, droplet nuclei containing M. tuberculosis are expelled into the air. Depending on the environment, these tiny particles (1-5microns in diameter) can remain suspended in the air for several hours. If another person inhales air containing droplet nuclei, transmission may occur.
The best way to stop transmission is to isolate patients with infectious TB immediately and start effective TB therapy. Infectiousness declines rapidly after adequate therapy is started, as long as the patient adheres to the prescribed regimen.
The overall goals for treatment of tuberculosis are (1) to cure the individual patient, and (2) to minimize the transmission of TB to other persons. Thus, successful treatment of tuberculosis has benefits both for the individual patient and the community in which the patient resides.
In following with state mandates, Collin County Health Care Services (CCHCS) provides testing for Tuberculosis (TB) for our community and our high risk employees.
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T-Spot rules out people who have a positive skin test due to Bacillus Calmette-Guerin vaccine (BCG) and non MTB variants; eliminating the need for an additional chest x-rays and the potential treatment of 6-9 months by the county health department.
I respectfully request the approval to renew the Oxford Immuotec Agreement (T-Spot) for providing tuberculosis testing services for CCHCS. Please note the price has been reduced from $50.00 per test to $45.00 per test. This specialized lab has been a budgeted line item for health care services since 2010.
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