Nurse With Tuberculosis May Have Exposed Over 1,000, Including 350 Infants

By Published on December 15, 2015

Over 1,000 people, including 350 infants, may have been exposed to tuberculosis in the maternity wing of a hospital in California after an active case of the disease was diagnosed in a nurse, hospital officials said on Sunday.

The Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in San Jose, Calif., said it was notified in mid-November that an employee who worked “in the area of the newborn nursery” had been given the diagnosis, with the potential to infect hospital staff and patients, including the newborns. The potential exposure occurred between August and November, it said.

Hospital officials said that as many as 1,026 people may have been exposed to the disease: 350 infants, 308 employees and 368 parents, primarily mothers. Hospital officials said they had identified all patients, staff members and visitors who might have been exposed, and were contacting each one.

Dr. Stephen Harris, the chairman of pediatrics at the hospital, said in a statement that the risk of infection remained low but that “the consequences of a tuberculosis infection in infants can be severe.” He said the hospital would begin offering preventive treatment to the exposed infants “as soon as possible.”

Read the article “Nurse With Tuberculosis May Have Exposed Over 1,000, Including 350 Infants” on nytimes.com.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Like the article? Share it with your friends! And use our social media pages to join or start the conversation! Find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, MeWe and Gab.

Inspiration
Military Photo of the Day: Standing Guard on USS New York
Tom Sileo
More from The Stream
Connect with Us