TB case sparks fear of major outbreak

THERE were fears last night of a major outbreak of tuberculosis (TB) after one case was confirmed on a large building site in Cork.

Public health officials said the case of TB had been positively identified in a young Irish man.

He was employed by a sub-contractor working on an O’Brien and O’Flynn building site in the suburb of Douglas.

A company spokesman said the man reported ill on Monday and that the matter had been referred to the Health Service Executive (HSE) South.

The infected man was in quarantine in St Finbarr’s Hospital last night where he is receiving specialist medical treatment. His condition is being kept under constant review, doctors said.

His family and personal contacts, including almost 70 builders working on the site with him, are being screened amid fears they could have contracted the disease.

O’Brien and O’Flynn said the incident is not affecting work on the site.

Dr Anne Sheahan, public health medicine specialist, said the patient was being treated appropriately.

“The tracing of contacts is routinely carried out when a case of active TB is confirmed,” she said. “TB, which is completely curable with treatment, can manifest itself in a number of ways, from flu-like symptoms, chest pain and coughing, right through to very little or no symptoms at all — making tracing a vital element of identifying and treating the infection.

“Early identification and treatment of TB has seen the rates of infection in the Cork and Kerry region fall in recent years, as has been happening nationally.”

TB is an infection caused by a germ called mycobacterium tuberculosis. It usually affects the lungs, but any part of the body may be affected. If a person comes into contact with a case of active lung tuberculosis they may become infected by breathing in the germ that causes TB. The initial infection is often undiagnosed or put down to flu or other minor illness. For most people, primary TB infection is a minor illness. Some people, however, develop the active disease.

Over the past decade, the Cork-Kerry area has experienced a downward trend in notified TB cases, in line with overall national trends. Between 1995 and 2004, there was a 32% drop in notified TB cases in the region. There was a slight increase in 2003 with 93 cases. There were 73 cases notified in 2004.

The provisional figure for 2005 is 77 cases but it is expected that this will be corrected downwards when final data is available, a HSE South spokesperson said.

There were 55 reported cases of TB in Cork and Kerry between January and July. The reported incidents peaked in April with 11 confirmed cases.

According to the National Disease Surveillance Centre there were 421 reported cases of TB nationwide in 2003, down from 975 in 1982.