A higher than usual number of active tuberculosis cases in Wellington North Township has the Wellington Dufferin Guelph Public Health issuing a reassurance there is little danger to the general public.
“The numbers are small, but … it’s a small population,” said Acting Medical Officer of Health Dr. Nicola Mercer.
TB, as it is commonly known, is uncommon but it continues to be diagnosed in Ontario. There were 683 new cases diagnosed in 2007.
For Wellington North, Public Health officials have found four cases in the last two years. Mercer said when that number of cases runs “close together,” Public Health issues a statement “for information purposes.
She said TB is spread through the air from someone with and active disease to others. She emphasized it requires spending a prolonged period of time breathing the same air for TB to be spread.
Mercer said family members or health care workers are most likely to be at risk in cases of active TB. A positive TB skin test or chest x-ray confirms a person has been infected by the germ, called a bacillus. However, at that stage, spread of the disease is rare and is not a risk to others. A very small percentage of people move from the infected stage to the active stage of the disease.
Mercer said people exposed to the bacillus at a young age have about a 5% chance of developing full blown tuberculosis. After that, it is a 5% chance for the rest of their lives. She said, though, it is possible for someone who fought in Europe in World War II to have been exposed to it there, and develop TB at age 75.
She said all medical personnel are screened for TB when they are hired, and the other place where it is regularly found is in prisons.
She emphasized that the disease is not only very treatable, but such treatment is free, with medication supplied by Public Health, and it is also very confidential.
“While TB is a communicable disease, the risk to the community is low,” she said. Public health identifies those who may be at risk of exposure and confidentially screens individuals and offers treatment where necessary.”
Mercer explained the TB bacillus gets into the throat, and that is the most common and communicable aspect of the disease. If it affects other body parts, those carriers cannot expose others to TB.
She said the bacillus creates caves in the lungs and grows in them. Those with TB of the lungs usually cough, and that is when the disease is most easily spread.
She added that where an infected person has contact with many people, Public Health officials will also screen those contacts and, if necessary, treat them for free, too.
While the disease is uncommon, Mercer said there is a monthly clinic held in Guelph, and there could be a couple of people a month being treated.
Mercer said of Public Health, “We monitor all communicable diseases in our community and have a respirologist available to consult with local family physicians when necessary.”
For more information about TB, visit www.wdghu.org.
