More dates for TB screening
Extra sessions follow big demand
MORE screening sessions are being offered at Prince Philip Hospital next month in the wake of the Llanelli TB scare.
Public Health Wales confirmed in May there had been 29 known cases of TB in the Llwynhendy area of Llanelli since 2010, with one death in 2018.
Around 80 residents and people who frequented the Joiners Arms – a pub linked to the outbreak – were invited to attend screenings as they had been identified as “contacts” of the confirmed TB cases.
Public screenings were later carried out in vans outside Parc y Scarlets, Llwynhendy surgery, and the Joiners Arms. Hundreds attended.
At a special council meeting this week, Llanelli Rural Council heard an update about the impact of the recent community screening, which involved more than 1,400 people over three days in June.
Dr Gareth Morgan, Hywel Dda University Health Board, and Dr Brandon Mason, Public Health Wales, informed councillors of the results of the findings, patients requiring further testing and treatment, deferred screening, BCG vaccination clinics, extra available guidance for the community and who the target groups were for the Llwynhendy screening exercise.
It was reported that no new cases of active TB had been identified through the screening exercise.
Some 76 cases of latent TB have been identified through the screening exercise to date.
It was explained that latent TB is not infectious and cannot be passed to other people and does not require urgent treatment.
Some 53 individuals received inconclusive results and will be invited for retesting as part of deferred screening.
Screening was deferred for more than 600 individuals who could not be screened at the sessions in June. Deferred screening will be offered during the first two weeks of September at Prince Philip in Llanelli to approximately 1,100 people.
These include the 600 not screened at the sessions in June and 350 who only received partial screening.
Others have been identified from those making contact through the helpline and from those individuals whose results from the original screening were inconclusive. Eligible individuals will be sent a written invitation to attend the deferred screening. They will be offered a range of available screening slots and asked to contact the screening centre by telephone to confirm which slot they would like to attend. A helpline has been set up for public inquiries – 029 2082 7627.
The leader of Llanelli Rural Council Councillor Tegwen Devichand said: “I’d like to thank Dr Mason and Dr Morgan on providing our council members with this update.
“We will continue to work in partnership to ensure they receive all the community support possible.
“We’ll continue to work with the health authorities and look forward to receiving an update once the findings have been concluded from the September exercise.”
The full Public Health Wales Llwynhendy Community TB screening exercise update is available at https://www. llanelli-rural.gov.uk/ llwynhendy-communitytb-screening-exerciseupdate-july-2019/