TB in schools: Constant vigilance

I REFER to last Tuesday's timely report, 'More must be done to tackle TB problem'.

Once thought eradicated, tuberculosis has made a worldwide comeback with the emergence of drug-resistant strains. The World Health Organisation has predicted China, India and Indonesia to be hotbeds of TB infection.

TB is a highly contagious airborne disease that can be easily contracted in crowded places such as schools, universities, army camps, offices, buses and trains.

While it mostly affects the lungs, it can spread to other parts of the body, such as the brain, heart, bones and even the womb in females.

In Singapore, TB victims were mostly the elderly. But now, it has afflicted younger Singaporeans, such as a 21-year-old national serviceman, a 30-year-old teacher and a 40-year-old managing director.

In 2005, there were two TB incidents in schools of which the public were mostly unaware.

In one case, a primary school teacher with a persistent cough was diagnosed with TB. Her principal then sent 38 students and 12 teachers for TB screening. It was found that the teacher's TB bacteria had been passed on to five students and three teachers.

In the other case, a Chinese national secondary student was found to have TB. A total of 70 students and 10 teachers who have been in contact with him were screened, and five were found to be infected.

As with the terrorism threat, our fight against disease threats must lie in constant vigilance, as well as an open and transparent approach.

The Ministry of Health owes the public an assurance on such questions as:

• Is there a standard operating procedure laid down for heads of kindergartens, schools and universities on what to do to break the chain of transmission of infectious diseases in such crowded places?
• What is done to ensure that TB-infected teachers or students complete the full course of medication (under Directly Observed Therapy) to kill off the bacteria, so as not to pose any further risk to other teachers and students?
• What is the latest update on the TB-infected teachers and students I mentioned earlier? See Leong Kit