PLANS ARE under way to begin a new screening programme for tuberculosis following an outbreak of the disease in Cork, the Health Service Executive (HSE) has said.
The programme is to be implemented “within existing resources”.
TB is a bacterial infection which attacks the lungs, but can also affect other parts of the body. It is spread through the air by coughing, sneezing or spitting.
Testing for the illness began on children from Ballintemple National School in Cork City yesterday.
The three children who were identified with the condition so far all had a form of TB which is included in the BCG inoculation.
The inoculation is administered to all babies in Ireland with the exclusion of Galway. But it was only reintroduced to Cork in the last two years.
Public health officials at St Finbarr’s Hospital in Cork began screening over 220 children and their teachers for TB after three pupils tested positive for the illness.
The outbreak was identified on August 10th, and parents were notified by letter two days later. The infected children have started anti-tuberculosis treatment and are under specialist paediatric care.
Those attending the screening, which will take two weeks to complete, will be asked to complete a questionnaire, undergo a Mantoux skin test and possibly have a chest X-ray.
In 2008, 480 cases of TB were recorded in the State, up from a low of less than 400 in the early part of the decade. Figures for 2009 were not available.
Screening for the illness is currently carried out among asylum seekers, but the HSE said last night it would expand the programme to other risk groups.
In a statement to The Irish Times, the HSE said the increase in cases could be attributed to a significant increase in population, “particularly people coming from countries inside and outside the EU which have higher incidence of TB”.
It said recently published guidelines on the prevention and control of TB recommended screening be extended to six groups.
The groups included new entrants to Ireland from countries with high TB rates, prison inmates and prison staff, homeless individuals, people infected with HIV and healthcare workers.
All close contacts to infectious TB cases should also be screened.
“Work is now under way to deliver the programme,” a spokeswoman for the HSE said. She said the programme would be delivered “within existing resources”.
The HSE also said while some resources were diverted during the H1N1 vaccination programme causing delays for the BCG vaccination in some areas, the situation had now been resolved.
No one was available from HSE West to explain why babies there do not currently receive the inoculation.
Dr Terry O’Connor, president of the Irish Thoracic Society and respiratory physician in Mercy University Hospital, had called for a vigorous national screening programme for high risk groups.
He said Ireland lacked proper screening policies which would identify individuals with latent TB.
It was also important to develop a universal national policy for BCG vaccination, but vaccination in itself would not ensure that a person will never contract TB.
Dr O’Connor also said the public and healthcare professionals needed to be educated to recognise the symptoms of TB.
Symptoms include persistent cough with sputum, weight loss and night sweats. People with these symptoms should be encouraged to see a healthcare professional and the healthcare professional should routinely test them for the condition, he said.