Health alert as pupil is diagnosed with TB
A SCHOOL pupil has been diagnosed as suffering from the potentially deadly disease tuberculosis.
NHS Dumfries and Galloway has confirmed a ‘single, isolated case’ and said it was dealing with it ‘in accordance with national guidelines’.
Director of Public Health Derek Cox said that although cases could be serious, tuberculosis was usually ‘easily treated’ with antibiotics.
He added that in this case, the risk of the disease spreading was ‘very low’.
TB is a serious bacterial infection spread through inhaling tiny droplets from the coughs or sneezes of an infected person and can present itself in different ways.
The most common symptoms include a persistent cough lasting several weeks, weight loss for no obvious reason, fever and unusual sweats at night, a general and unusual sense of tiredness and being unwell, and coughing up blood. Mr Cox added: ‘NHS Dumfries and Galloway is working with the education department and school concerned to identify those individuals most at risk and to offer screening for TB.’ NHS Dumfries and Galloway said between 400 and 500 cases of TB were diagnosed in Scotland each year.
In Dumfries and Galloway itself, the number of new cases was ‘very small and usually accounts for less than ten a year’. Last month, it emerged that a hospital care worker had contracted tuberculosis. It is understood the woman was treating a patient with the disease at the Golden Jubilee Hospital in Clydebank, Dunbartonshire, when she became ill.
The Health and Safety Executive confirmed it was investigating and it is understood one line of inquiry may involve provision of face masks. If it is found proper procedures were not carried out, a report could be sent to the procurator fiscal.
Tuberculosis in Scotland has been relatively stable for 20 years but since 2005 there has been a rise in cases, particularly among people born outside the UK.