TBC asylum seeker in communal housing ill with tuberculosis

Close contact persons should be examined as a precautionary measure
An asylum seeker living in the Gransee (Oberhavel) communal housing has been diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis (TB). This informs currently the district Oberhavel. Accordingly, all necessary measures to prevent retransmission have already started. Among other things, it now has to find all the close contacts of the patient in recent months, so that they could be examined as a precaution.

Patient is treated in hospital
In the Brandenburg town of Gransee, a man has been diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis (TB). As Oberhavel County reports, the diagnosis was made last week at the asylum seeker living in a collective housing facility. This is the first case of illness in a communal accommodation in the district, altogether in the past five years in Oberhavel between one and six cases of tuberculosis have been given annually.

Tuberculosis - case occurred in the asylum home. Image: DOC RABE Media - Fotolia

Transmission of tuberculosis can only be done directly by the patient
The patient is being treated in hospital and he is "well" according to the circumstances, says the statement. In order to prevent its further dissemination, all the necessary health surveillance measures had been initiated immediately. It also includes locating all the people the man has been in close contact with for the past two to six months. In question would be, for example, other residents of the communal shelter, social workers, cleaners or police officers. However, if these contact persons had close contact with other people, they would not have to be included in the preventive environmental investigations, "as a transmission of tuberculosis can only be done directly by the patient", informed the district Oberhavel on.

Infection takes place mainly via droplet infection
Tuberculosis (TBC) is a contagious, chronic infectious disease that was previously referred to as "consumption." Triggers are so-called "mycobacteria", which predominantly affect the lungs and are transmitted mainly by droplet infection during coughing, sneezing and speaking. Typically, non-specific symptoms such as coughing, night sweats and a slightly elevated temperature initially appear. Later, the symptoms increase and it can be e.g. high fever, persistent cough with sputum and respiratory distress occur. The disease is now treatable by antibiotics. However, as the necessary drugs are not available in many countries for cost reasons, TBC remains the world's most common fatal infectious disease. (Nr)