Search Here

According to the officials at San Jose, California hospital, more than 1,000 people including the infants have been potentially exposed to tuberculosis from an infected nurse. Santa Clara Valley Medical Center Officials said that 308 employees, 368 patients and 350 infants may have been exposed to the disease after the nurse was diagnosed with the condition.

Dr. Stephen Harris, the hospital's chairman of pediatrics, said in a teleconference Friday that "while the risk of infection is low, the consequences of a tuberculosis infection in infants can be severe." About the nurse with tuberculosis, Harris added, "It is still very unlikely that anybody will get infected from their contact with this employee," because the nurse tested negative during an annual check in September. However, her infection surfaced when her physician found a malfunction in her lung in November during an unofficial consultation. She was later tested positive of TB, as reported by UPI.

Dr. Stephen Harris, the chairman of pediatrics at the hospital, said in a statement that infection risk is low but "the consequences of a tuberculosis infection in infants can be severe." He added that a preventive treatment for the infants will begin "as soon as possible". The treatment will include the testing as well as a dose of isoniazid, an antibiotic for prevention of TB in infants exposed to the virus, everyday. The other people including the employees, mothers of the infants and patients will all be screened and offered treatment at the hospital, said the officials, as per New York Times.

Paul Lorenz, the chief executive of the hospital, said in a Facebook post that the likely exposure was "an unusual and unfortunate circumstance." He attempted to assure the patients and the wider community that the hospital will test all its employees for the infectious disease, said the New York Times.