People with negative sputum test for tuberculosis still have the possibility of infecting others and should pay attention to proper isolation and protection.
Tuberculosis is a chronic respiratory disease caused by infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which is contagious and spreads mainly through the droplets carried by tuberculosis patients.
Negative sputum test for tuberculosis can only indicate that no Mycobacterium tuberculosis is detected in the sputum smear, but it does not mean that the organism does not contain Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and the organism may still carry the bacteria and still excrete the bacteria to the outside world.
When the sputum test for tuberculosis is negative, the body may excrete less bacilli to the outside world, so the infectiousness is relatively low, but it can’t be considered non-infectious.
Therefore, sputum should be disposed of properly to avoid the formation of aerosols in the air to infect others.