Patients recalled for TB screening

John Millar says there is no need for alarm

More than 70 people who were treated at Poole Hospital are being screened for TB after a member of staff contracted the disease.

The disease was picked up as part of compulsory screening of hospital employees.

All the people recalled came into contact with a new member of staff who started on a general medical ward at the end of October.

John Millar, from Poole Hospital, says there is no need for alarm.

Compulsory screening

He said: "It takes about three months to develop the problem. Usually it's picked up by a chest x-ray - that's the screening test that we'll be using.

"You do not develop problems, nor do you become infectious to others, for really quite a long period of time."

In the two weeks the man was on the ward he came into close contact with 79 patients.

They have all received a letter calling them back to hospital for tests and screening.

Cases rise

TB usually attacks the lungs and can be passed on by coughing or spitting.

All the patients will be monitored by the hospital for a year and be given a chest x-ray as soon as possible and then tested again in three months time.

Hospital officials are confident of beating the disease, which kills about 2m people worldwide every year, as it has been caught before any symptoms show.

The number of recorded TB cases in England and Wales rose from 5,085 in 1987 to 6,797 last year, according to the Public Health Laboratory Service.