Thread: Hundreds in Lynn Tested for Tuberculosis

Hundreds in Lynn Tested for Tuberculosis

The (Lynn, Mass.) Daily Item
September 9, 2014 8:11 AM

LYNN, Mass. (AP) — More than 30 Lynn Community Health Center employees and 800 patients are being tested to determine if they were exposed to tuberculosis after center doctors confirmed a case.

Center Director Lori Berry says after confirming the single positive test for tuberculosis in a male health care worker around Labor Day, center medical workers contacted and tested employees as well as patients ‘‘having sufficient exposure to warrant testing.’’

City Health Director MaryAnn O'Connor tells The Daily Item the identified case at the center is ‘‘not a reason to panic’’ and said people should not stay away from clinic

The Center for Disease Control’s website describes tuberculosis as bacteria ‘‘that usually attack the lungs’’ but can attack other parts of the body, and if not treated properly can be fatal.

http://www.boston.com/health/2014/09...O1K/story.html

Lynn health center chief confirms tuberculosis case

Facility testing employees, patients
By Thor Jourgensen / The Daily Item

Posted on Sep 9, 2014

by Thor Jourgensen

LYNN — More than 30 Lynn Community Health Center employees and 800 patients are being tested to determine if anyone else was exposed to tuberculosis after center doctors confirmed a case one week ago.

“I can confirm there is a case. We are working closely with the city Department of Health and state Public Health Department,” said center Director Lori Berry.

After confirming the single positive test for tuberculosis in a male health care worker around Labor Day, Berry said center medical workers contacted and tested employees in the Union Street center as well as patients “having sufficient exposure to warrant testing.”

“If you haven’t been contacted, you haven’t been exposed,” Berry said.

City Health Director MaryAnn O’Connor said the identified case at the center is “not a reason to panic” and said people should not stay away from the 269 Union St. center or take particular precautions in the building.

“Is it concerning, yes; is it alarming, no,” O’Connor said.

The Center for Disease Control’s website describes tuberculosis as bacteria “that usually attack the lungs” but can attack other parts of the body.

“If not treated properly, TB disease can be fatal,” the website states.

Tuberculosis is spread through the air — it is not, stated the website, spread through bodily contact or sharing food.

“Tuberculosis is not that contagious,” Berry said.

O’Connor said a “typical active tuberculosis case” is treated with a nine-month-long medication course and testing.

Berry stressed that exposure to tuberculosis does not “mean you have tuberculosis” but urged anyone who is concerned they may have been exposed to come to the center’s 269 Union St. urgent care center.

http://www.itemlive.com/news/lynn-health-center-chief-confirms-tuberculosis-case/article_fb8dcda6-37b7-11e4-b9d0-0019bb2963f4.html