A nurse at a community health center is teaching a group of residents about tuberculosis. Which of the following statements should the nurse make?

Living in a long-term care facility places individuals at a greater risk for tuberculosis because congregate living settings facilitate airborne transmission of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Close, prolonged contact with infected individuals in enclosed spaces — as occurs in nursing homes, correctional facilities, shelters, and similar settings — significantly increases exposure risk. This is an accurate and important public health teaching point. Tuberculosis is not spread through direct contact such as touching surfaces or shaking hands; it is spread through airborne droplet nuclei that are released when an infected person coughs, sneezes, speaks, or sings. This distinction is critical for community education. Stating that a person will need medication for the rest of their life is incorrect; treatment for active tuberculosis typically lasts six to nine months, and latent tuberculosis infection is often treated for nine months with isoniazid or shorter-course regimens — neither is lifelong. A Mantoux tuberculin skin test cannot diagnose tuberculosis definitively; it indicates exposure and immune sensitization to the bacterium, but a positive result requires follow-up with chest imaging and sputum testing to confirm active disease. The skin test can also yield false positives and false negatives, making it a screening tool rather than a diagnostic one.