Teachers no longer required to have TB jab

TEACHERS are no longer required to be vaccinated against tuberculosis (TB), following the advice of the chief medical officer for the public service.

The move changes a policy under which any new teacher beginning work in the country’s 4,000 primary and second-level schools who was not already vaccinated against TB was required to do so before being eligible to go on the Department of Education payroll.

In a letter issued to all schools, department officials told boards of management that Education Minister Mary Hanafin has been advised by the chief medical officer for the civil service Dr Tom O’Connell that the general requirement for teachers to receive TB vaccination — if they are not already immunised — no longer stands.

“Accordingly, this requirement is being removed with immediate effect and all earlier rules and directions in relation to this matter are hereby rescinded,” the letter read.

“The issue of immunisation may arise from time to time in individual schools and in this instance a school authority should seek advice from the Health Service Executive (HSE),” schools have been told.

Earlier this year, 18 children and three staff at two pre-school childcare facilities in Cork were diagnosed with TB, after a worker had been infected with the TB bacteria but did not develop the disease. It can be spread by a person with latent TB coughing, sneezing or spitting.

A spokesperson for Mr O’Connell said the decision to discontinue the policy requiring TB vaccination for teachers was taken at a recent meeting of the National Immunisation Advisory Committee after reviewing a series of school-associated outbreaks.

“The committee is currently working on updated guidelines on TB immunisation for other occupational groups, where appropriate,” the spokesperson said.

In some work sectors such as healthcare and social work, staff may be required to have TB vaccination if they are at risk of developing TB through potential contact with the disease.

The latest figures from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre show 461 cases of TB were notified in 2005, about a third of them in people born outside Ireland.

The disease is usually treatable by antibiotics but about one in 16 cases are resistant to drug treatment. It can be vaccinated through the BCG vaccination, recommended for newborn babies.