MUMBAI: More than 54 healthcare providers , including seven doctors, from the city's public hospitals are currently undergoing treatment for tuberculosis . Of these, a minuscule number, mainly non-clinical staffers of these hospitals, are battling the drug-resistant form of TB.

Experts told TOI the incidence, even if less than 1% among the city's healthcare workforce, cannot be overlooked. Of the 54 being treated under the Revised National TB Control Programme, seven are doctors pursing their post-graduation in tertiary hospitals, and the remaining are nursing and MBBS students and Grade-IV staffers, said a BMC official.

Veterans serving some of the civic-run hospitals often argue that TB has been the commonest occupational hazard, which can be be treated with success. The argument was probably accepted till MBBS graduate Samidha Khandare (24) died of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDRTB) at Sion Hospital this June. Incidentally, this hospital has the highest number of healthcare workers undergoing TB treatment with 13 cases. Within two days of Khandare's death, a third-year nursing student from Nair Hospital also died of MDRTB . The same nursing college hostel that houses 400 students has recorded three cases of TB this year.

The spotlight, though, was brought back recently after a 22-year-old student was diagnosed with brain TB.

Mumbai TB officer Dr Minni Khetarpal said the numbers should not trigger panic. "The majority of those undergoing treatment are Grade-IV staffers who do not treat patients. Even for young nurses, nutrition added with work stress and climatic conditions remain the main culprits." Over 30,000 TB cases are registered in the city annually.

On Monday, a bevy of infection-control experts from Centres for Disease and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, and Harvard School of Public Health started their interaction with BMC's architects, engineers and specialists. Paul Jensen, an expert from CDC, said ventilation control issues like design, operation, maintenance and sustainability play a part in infection control.

Dr Sujata Baweja, head of Sion Hospital's microbiology department, said, "Studies have shown that many patients walk in drug sensitive but walk out of the hospital becoming drug resistant."