Staff member found with active TB after screening at 2 pre-schools; no children diagnosed so far: CDA
There is 'currently no evidence of spread within the pre-schools', CDA said.
SINGAPORE - A staff member at the MindChamps PreSchool in East Coast has been diagnosed with active tuberculosis after a screening of children and staff there, as well as at the MapleBear Toa Payoh.
None of the children at either pre-school have tested positive so far, and there is 'currently no evidence of spread within the pre-schools', said the Communicable Diseases Agency (CDA) in a statement on Aug 20.
The agency conducted screenings
at the MindChamps and MapleBear pre-schools on Aug 13 and Aug 15 respectively, after a pre-school teacher who had taught at both schools had tested positive for the disease.
The staff member who was newly diagnosed from the screenings is a household contact of the pre-school teacher, which the CDA was informed about on July 15.
'The individual is currently asymptomatic and is on medical leave. She has commenced TB treatment
and will be non-infectious after completing two weeks of treatment,' CDA said.
As a precaution, CDA said it has started contact tracing ahead of laboratory confirmation of the results, and contacted the preschool to initiate contact tracing to identify staff and students with close and prolonged contact with the newly diagnosed case.
Also, four other staff members likely have latent TB infection after their blood tests came back positive for the disease, but showed no symptoms.
People with latent TB do not have symptoms and cannot spread TB to others, CDA said.
A total of 115 contacts of the first TB patient were identified across both pre-schools, with 93 undergoing the screenings at the schools and 21 having scheduled appointments to do so at the National TB Screening Centre, and one screened at a private laboratory.
Among the 93 tested at the schools, 80 tested negative, while eight people - six children and two staff members - had inconclusive results and will undergo testing again.
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