MMU students and staff screened for TB

11 July 2008

We can confirm that 235 students and staff at Manchester Metropolitan University were offered screening for TB as a precautionary measure after a former student on the final year textile course, which finished in the summer of 2007, was diagnosed with TB.
64 family members and close personal contacts of the student with the infection, including fellow students, were initially screened for the infection. This screening identified three cases of active TB, two of whom were family members, and 14 cases of latent infection. 

As a result, a decision was taken to extend screening to a further 235 students and university staff who may have had some contact with the initial patient. So far 62 of these have responded to the invitation and have been screened. Of the 62 who have been screened, a member of staff has been identified as having possible TB and is being treated for the infection. Four of the students have been diagnosed with latent infection.

It needs to be emphasised that in any screening exercise on this scale, it is not unusual to find latent infection. As a result of the former schools’ BCG immunisation programme, we know that between 5% and 10% of the population have latent infection. These people have no symptoms, are not infectious and are not ill.

Apart from the student who first developed TB infection and the member of staff who has recently been diagnosed with possible TB, no one else is know to have attended MMU whilst displaying symptoms of infectious TB.

TB is a treatable illness and the majority of patients make a full and complete recovery. A course of treatment takes about six months, but patients cease to be infectious after just two weeks.

Dr. Erika Duffell, Consultant in Health Protection with the Health Protection Agency’s Greater Manchester Health Protection Unit, said: “As a general rule, it is not easy to contract TB. It does not usually spread easily from person-to-person. To be at risk one must usually spend many hours in close contact with someone who has active disease, is infectious and has a cough.

“In this case we have found that three people who had particularly close contact with the patient had developed active TB and a member of the university’s staff has probable TB, which may or may not have been contracted from the student. We will only know if the staff member has contracted TB from the student for certain if we get a positive smear sample from the staff member and are able to do some genetic finger-printing in the laboratory.

“The former student who first became ill responded well to treatment and has long since ceased to be infectious.”

The university wrote to all students in the same year as the patient, informing them of the situation and giving information about TB and its symptoms. Staff, staff unions and students are being kept fully informed of the situation.

 

Note to editors<

TB is a bacterial infection that can affect any part of the body, but most often the lungs. Approximately 8,000 cases, including 800 in the North West region, are recorded in England and Wales each year.

The infection is normally spread by droplets, usually by coughing and sneezing but, as stated in this press release, it is necessary to spend many hours in close personal contact with someone who is openly infectious to be at risk.

Some people are more vulnerable to infection than others, for example young children, frail older people and people whose immunity to infection has been lowered by disease or treatment.

There is a big difference between latent infection and active TB disease; people can be infected but not ill (this is called latent infection), as most people’s immune systems manage to keep the bacteria from becoming active. Only active TB is potentially infectious to others.<

TB is a fully treatable disease and patients usually cease to be infectious after just two weeks on treatment.

Press release issued by Hugh Lamont, Communications Manager, HPA North West, tel. 0151-482-5728 or o7764-906508.

Last reviewed: 28 May 2010