Nurse who has TB may have exposed over 1,000 people; including 350 infants
Over 1,000 people, including 350 infants, may have been exposed to tuberculosis in the maternity wing of a hospital in California after an active case of the disease was diagnosed in a nurse, hospital officials said on Sunday.
The hospital said it was notified only in mid-November that an employee who worked in the area of the new born nursey had been given TB diagnosis. The infected nurse had the potential to infect hospital staff, patients and even newborns. The exposure is believed to have occured between August and November.
Hospital officials said that as many as 1,026 people may have been exposed to the disease: 350 infants, 308 employees and 368 parents, mainly mothers. Hospital officials said they had identified all patients, staff members and visitors who might have been exposed, and were contacting each one.
Officials have also said that the risk of infection remains low but the effects of TB infection on infants could be severed. The hospital would be offering preventive treatment for the exposed infants as quickly as possible. Treaments would include – diagnostic testing and antibiotics to prevent the exposed infants from getting the disease. Other employees, patients and mothers were also being screened and given treatment.
Screenings have already started at the hospital and no one has tested positive so far for TB. Isoniazid – the drug being give to the infants is considered to be effective in keeping TB from taking hold. However, with infants the risk is always higher when compared to older children and adults. The risk of the infection entering the blood stream and infecting other organs being much higher.
The CEO of the hospital assured the patients and the local community that the hospital was doing its best to contain the situation. The employees were properly tested and screened for TB as well. The hospital said the infected nurse tested negative for tuberculosis during an annual check in September. The diagnosis was made after her personal physician took an X-ray during a visit for an unrelated medical condition. The nurse has since been placed on leave.