As a precautionary measure, the National University Hospital will be testing 178 children who may been exposed to a paediatric nurse who was diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis. The chances of contracting tubercolosis in Singapore, however, is extremely low, according to an infectious diseases specialist from another hospital who was interviewed by Channel NewsAsia.
A nurse at the NUH's Ward 47 for children was diagnosed with TB last Friday and is now receiving treatment and recovering well. The nurse’s colleagues working in the ward who have been screened have no symptoms of active TB, according to a news release from NUH.
The nurse had been off duty three days before her diagnosis and informed NUH as soon as she received the result of her test. "The nurse had been down with a cough in July. She had sought treatment at a GP clinic but was not diagnosed with TB. However, the cough persisted and the nurse sought treatment on Nov 25, when she was given a CT scan which revealed a possible TB patch on her lung," reports CNA.
While there are more than 1,000 new cases of TB each year in Singapore, it is usually spread over prolonged periods in close contact, and not through casual contact."In most healthy people, the immune system is able to fight the bacteria that causes TB. It is a curable disease and treatment has proven to be very effective (more than 90%) in curing and preventing active TB," NUH added.
In the meantime, we wish the nurse a speedy recovery.
Photo: Wikipedia
As a precautionary measure, the National University Hospital will be testing 178 children who may been exposed to a paediatric nurse who was diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis. The chances of contracting tubercolosis in Singapore, however, is extremely low, according to an infectious diseases specialist from another hospital who was interviewed by Channel NewsAsia.
A nurse at the NUH's Ward 47 for children was diagnosed with TB last Friday and is now receiving treatment and recovering well. The nurse’s colleagues working in the ward who have been screened have no symptoms of active TB, according to a news release from NUH.
The nurse had been off duty three days before her diagnosis and informed NUH as soon as she received the result of her test. "The nurse had been down with a cough in July. She had sought treatment at a GP clinic but was not diagnosed with TB. However, the cough persisted and the nurse sought treatment on Nov 25, when she was given a CT scan which revealed a possible TB patch on her lung," reports CNA.
While there are more than 1,000 new cases of TB each year in Singapore, it is usually spread over prolonged periods in close contact, and not through casual contact."In most healthy people, the immune system is able to fight the bacteria that causes TB. It is a curable disease and treatment has proven to be very effective (more than 90%) in curing and preventing active TB," NUH added.
In the meantime, we wish the nurse a speedy recovery.
Photo: Wikipedia