Public health officials in El Paso have revealed that over 700 babies delivered in the County between September 2013 and last month could be at risk of developing Tuberculosis as investigations have confirmed they were exposed to an infected medical professional.
Officials say the revelation was sparked by test results released last month, which disclosed that the unidentified employee who worked in the nursery of the Providence Memorial Hospital, has been suffering from the highly communicable disease.
Reports indicate that up to 40 colleagues of the unidentified employee have also been tested for the virus. Meanwhile, County health officials say letters have been dispatched to the parents of all children born in the hospital during the period the employee was on active duty. County officials have also set up a webpage to inform parents and the general public about the incident.
According to Carrie Williams, spokesperson for the Department of State Health Services of Texas, this is on of the largest cases of TB infections in the history of the state. She also noted that the fact that children are at the heart of the incident makes it very 'sensitive.'
Health experts have assured parents, whose children are likely to be part of the infected group, that tuberculosis is treatable in its early stages. Local sources say TB screening centers have been opened in New Mexico, where some of the infected babies are thought to be located. Health exerts have announced that the TB virus, which children are particularly susceptible to, can remain dormant in the body of a host for many years before the patient begins to show any outward symptoms of an infection.
The Providence Memorial Hospital has been in operation since the 1950s and is widely regarded as one of the main health facilities in El Paso. But this could quickly change as regulators have reportedly also found the hospital guilty of violating its operational codes. Reports indicate that the authorities have given the hospital's management up until next week to correct these issues.
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