A Michigan tuberculosis notice has been issued for some 600 people in three counties after a healthcare worker who didn't know they had the disease interacted with patients between May 1 and Jan. 31.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services is investigating three healthcare facilities in in Oakland, Livingston, and Washtenaw counties after it was discovered that the unnamed worker recently diagnosed with TB may have been in contact with up to 600 individuals, The Detroit News reported.
In response to this, St. Joseph Mercy Ann Arbor and Livingston hospitals are offering blood tests and medical treatment to patients and staff who may have been exposed, while South Lyon Senior Care and Rehab has already provided testing for its patients and staff, according to the Detroit Free Press.
The department has not revealed whether any others have been infected by the disease, but it has confirmed that the infected worker is undergoing treatment and is no longer working.
There were 9,272 new TB cases reported in the U.S. alone in 2016, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention noted, with 10.4 million people around the world becoming sick with the disease and 1.7 million reported deaths arising from it.
Not everyone infected with the TB bacteria becomes sick or shows symptoms, and even an infected person can interact with others without necessarily spreading the disease. Others can become sick years after transmission, which occurs through the air from one person to another.
“When you have the infection, the bacteria is in the body but you're not sick, you're not showing symptoms,” Lynn Sutfin, public information officer for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, said, accoridng to the Detroit Free Press.
“And then obviously once you've developed the disease because the bacteria has multiplied, then you're going to start showing symptoms.”
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