Physician May Have Exposed Children To TB At Chicago Hospitals

[babylonsister]

http://www.dbtechno.com/health/2009/04/11/physician-may-have-exposed-children-to-tb-at-chicago-hospitals/

Physician May Have Exposed Children To TB At Chicago Hospitals

April 11, 2009


A physician who has been diagnosed with tuberculosis (TB) may have exposed hundreds of people, including children, to the potentially deadly disease.

The news was released this week by the Chicago Department of Public Health, as the physician was said to be a female resident.

This female was from Northwestern University and was training to be a doctor.

She has been diagnosed with TB as of this past Friday, but there is no word yet on if more cases have popped up.

It appears as of right now that the risk to patients was not as high as previously believed

What is known though is that she did expose hundreds of people, including children to TB without even knowing it.

This is due to the fact that she worked at three Chicago-area hospitals while having the disease.

Anyone exposed to the women over the past 8 to 10 months is at high risk of TB.

The hospitals in question include Evanston Hospital, Children’s Memorial Hospital, and Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

There have yet to be any further cases of TB to be reported up to this point.

[shraby]

1. One would think that at TB test would be standard

procedure before someone started working in a hospital. Even the help at a restaurant has to have one, or at least used to. Don't know the rules of today.

[Maine-ah]

8. restaurant workers (at least in Maine) don't require such test.

[rainbow4321]

9. Standard is once a year test in the medical/nursing field

Unless one is exposed to a patient with TB who has yet to be diagnosd with TB and, therefore, is NOT is the correct kind of isolation room and the staff is not wearing the correct PPE (personal protection equipment) when entering that patient's room. Then you get sent to occupational health to get an additional test.
And THAT scenario happens all too frequently. Many a time me and my co workers would show up at work only to be told "hey that patient you took care of 3 weeks in rm xyz, he had TB, you need to go for a (TB) skin test. Gee, thanks.
I work in an STD clinic now and it is considered a high risk area for TB exposures, so I have to get the TB skin test every three months.

I'll have to re-read the article but does the doc actually have TB, symptoms and all, or was her skin test merely positive?? Big difference cuz the skin test just tells if someone has been "exposed" to TB, not that they have an active case of it. There are many health care workers who get a "reactive ppd reading" (i.e the site where they were given the TB skin test gets red and swollen) and all it requires is a chest xray to see if they have it...then from there on out they don't get the skin test every year, instead they get a chest xray every 2 years and sign some paperwork.

There is a good chance that the doc got her TB skin test and then AFTER it but BEFORE the next annual test, she was exposed. You can be "exposed" but not have any symptoms because you don't really "have" an active case of TB.

[BlooInBloo]

2. Don't they have a vaccine for that?

[babylonsister]

3. She just found out this past Friday. There's no telling how many people

might have been exposed, and who they are.

[BlooInBloo]

4. So just put it out over the news: "Anyone who's been to hospital XYZ within this time period...

should come in for a vaccination, if you haven't had one already."

I mean TB doesn't kill you like *immediately* does it?

[babylonsister]

5. No, but just think about all the people who 'might' have been exposed

and the people they've then been around. Sounds like a potential problem of containment.

I read about someone from Russia (?) who was on an airplane and they found out this person had TB. The CDC went to 'great' lengths to quarantine the people on the plane so as not to spread it.

This could turn out to be nothing, too. I guess we'll see. Not a whole lot of info in this article.

[rainbow4321]

10. We had a patient a few years ago who had an active case and flew from India

He had no business getting on the plane in the first place because he was getting treated for it over there and flew over here to "see his grandbaby"...he was pretty sick when admitted to the floor I worked on.
So he basically exposed eveyone on the one (or more) plane(s) that he was on to get here.

[ZombieHorde]

11. "come in for a vaccination"

I don't think one exists, but I would love to be wrong about it.

[BlooInBloo]

12. Treatment, then.

(it turns out that vaccine is in testing.)

[ZombieHorde]

13. "vaccine is in testing" Let's hope it works. nt

[proud2BlibKansan]

6. No they don't

[BlooInBloo]

7. Interesting - they came up with one a couple of years ago, but it's still in testing....

The treatment for it is 95% though.