Hundreds of NYC Patients May Have Been Exposed to TB
March 19, 2007
Hundreds of babies and adults in New York City may have been exposed to tuberculosis by an infected hospital worker who was diagnosed with active TB on Jan. 30, said city health officials.
The infected employee worked at St. Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx and the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has identified about 700 patients and other people, including 238 infants, who may have been exposed to TB, the Associated Press reported.
So far, 571 of those people or their relatives have been contacted by phone and mail. Of the 122 adults and 138 infants checked so far, three adults have tested positive for TB exposure, but no one has developed active TB, St. Barnabas Hospital officials said.
The infected hospital employee worked in the maternity ward, neonatal intensive care unit, the well-baby nursery and the psychiatric ward, the AP reported.
The fact that so many newborns may have been exposed to TB is especially worrisome, city health officials said.
“Because their immune systems are not fully developed, newborns who are exposed to TB are at high risk of developing active TB,” Dr. Sonal Munsiff, assistant commissioner for TB control in the city’s health department, told the AP.
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