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Quarantine is the oldest infection control tool on the planet, one of the few medical interventions detailed in the Bible and still in use today. It is both effective and brutal. COVID-19 reintroduced us to its benefits and harms and also moved a national taskforce to issue new guidelines rethinking the need for prolonged respiratory isolation in community-dwelling people with tuberculosis (Clin Infect Dis 2024; Apr 18 [e-pub]).
Many guidelines have addressed optimal methods of preventing tuberculosis (TB) transmission in healthcare settings. Very few have addressed infection control after patients go home. Most TB programs that monitor outpatients have adopted a minimum 2-week period of strict respiratory isolation after treatment begins. T…