TB scare - Toddlers left waiting for vaccine

IT is alarming that toddlers and a staff member have tested positive under TB screening at a Cork crèche.

Three of the toddlers were expected to show positive results since they received the BCG vaccination to immunise them against the disease. Unfortunately, the other two have a 5% chance of developing full-blown TB over the next 20 years, according to consultant clinical microbiologist, Dr Margaret Hannan.

By no means is that the end of the story as the results of screening 50 more children and adults at the crèche, where a former staff member was recently diagnosed with the disease, will not be available until Friday. Meanwhile, up to 166 children and staff at another local preschool where she worked will be screened next Monday.

The burning question is why babies in Cork face a three-month waiting list for BCG, a vaccine routinely administered to newborns in every other county.

That is unacceptable.