I am advised that a woman who gave birth recently in the Rotunda Hospital was diagnosed as having tuberculosis. On discovering this, the hospital took appropriate action which included the isolation of the patient and subsequent transfer to an acute general hospital. Patients and staff who may have come into contact with the woman were also identified.
A total of 30 mothers and their babies were identified by the hospital and offered screening. It is understood that 29 mothers and their babies have been screened to date and arrangements are being made to screen the one remaining mother and child. Screening of staff has also taken place and no case of TB has been detected, to date, among those screened. Contract tracing is also under way for mothers who may have been in contact with the identified case of tuberculosis at pre-natal clinics. There is, of course, no risk to the unborn child through the mother's contact with an infected person in the pre-natal situation.
The director of public health in the Eastern Regional Health Authority has indicated that this is a routine contract tracing and screening procedure of a type which would be carried out frequently. He has also indicated that it was extremely unlikely that any case of TB will occur among the contacts. However, rigorous screening is put in place in such situations as a precautionary measure. There is a low level of TB in the Irish population and it is an eminently treatable disease.
