Possible TB Exposure at Area Hospitals
By Anthonia Akitunde in News on Apr 11, 2009 3:30PM
A Northwestern University pediatric resident may have exposed hundreds of children, infants and staff to tuberculosis at three Chicago-area hospitals, according to reports. No patients or staff members have been diagnosed with active TB as of Friday evening, with those closest to the resident testing negative on a skin test used to determine infection. The resident came in contact with about 300 staff and 150 patients during her residency at Northwestern, Children's Memorial and Evanston Hospitals.
The 26-year-old female resident, whose name has not be released, was diagnosed Tuesday at Northwestern Memorial Hospital after experiencing TB symptoms. "Active" TB symptoms include coughing, weight loss and night sweats. She no longer is employed at the hospitals.
Tuberculosis is an infectious, airborne disease that typically attacks the lungs, but can also attack the brain, kidney and spine. It can be fatal if left untreated. Chicago had an all-time low of 214 cases in 2008, according to a report released by the Chicago Department of Public Health.
Hospitals check annually for TB, and the resident had passed previous tests, but hospital officials will not release when the last one occurred. It is possible for a person to show no signs of the disease for years and to contract the disease between screenings. Officials are looking into the resident's time working at a HIV clinic as a medical student in Botswana in 2007. As of Friday, they were uncertain of the trip's relevance.
Although the risk of TB increases when exposed to someone with the disease for 120 hours, children and infants are extremely vulnerable to the disease. Hospital officials are contacting everyone who may have came in contact with the resident, including a limited number of staff and mothers who had a baby in the healthy newborn nursery at Prentice Women’s Hospital between Nov. 3 and Nov. 21, 2008. One hundred patients including 17 newborns at Prentice are also being evaluated, according to NBC Chicago. [Tribune, NBC Chicago]