Cork Pupils Screened For TB

Some 220 children and their teachers are being screened for Tuberculosis after three pupils from Ballintemple National School were diagnosed with the disease.

Screening has begun by Public Health officials in Cork at St Finbarr's Hospital. Testing for TB is a noninvasive procedure involving a simple skin test and a chest X-ray if required.

The Health Service Executive has said that TB can be cured with antibiotic treatment for at least six months. It has confirmed that the source of the disease has not been identified.

The infected children in Ballintemple have since started anti-tuberculosis treatment and are under specialist paediatric care.

After carrying out a risk assessment the HSE decided that all 220 pupils and staff at the school should screened as a precautionary measure.

Speaking in response to the outbreak, the Irish Thoracic Society said people should be educated about the symptoms and called for the implementation of a number of principles central to addressing the continued challenge of the disease to public health in Ireland.

Dr Terry O’Connor, President of the Irish Thoracic Society said: “As the current cluster of cases demonstrates, TB has not gone away. Ireland has seen a rise in case numbers in recent years and the contagious nature of the disease means that communities are vulnerable if the proper safeguards are not in place.

"While it is important that there is a universal national policy for BCG vaccination, vaccination in itself does not ensure that a person will never contract TB. Establishing a vigorous programme to screen for and treat latent TB will be the most effective way of reducing the incidence of TB in Ireland, will reap long-term public health and cost gains and should be introduced without delay."

Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body and is spread through the air, when people who have the disease cough, sneeze, or spit.

The first case of TB was identified a month after primary school holidays began before the notification of the two subsequent emerged in the past two weeks.

Head of Health Protection with the HSE Dr Kevin Kelleher said the national screening programme for TB needed to be expanded.

Meanwhile, Fine Gael's Health Spokesman Dr James Reilly has called on Minister for Health Mary Harney to set-up an immediate review of TB services, including the administration of the BCG vaccination for infants.

(DW/BMcC)