3 SMRT staff
found to have tuberculosis
Three SMRT staff members – two train drivers and a crew manager
– have been diagnosed with tuberculosis (TB).
The trio, who were from Tanah Merah station, were diagnosed with
the disease four to six weeks ago, a Straits Times report on
Saturday (6 August) said.
Two were found to have latent TB while the other was found to have
active TB, which is contagious. Non-infectious latent TB can
develop into active TB if left untreated.
SMRT staff from the Tanah Merah station have since been screened
although the number of people tested remains unknown. Results of
the testing should be out in a few weeks, the report said citing
sources.
An SMRT spokesman said that the company has been actively working
with the authorities to carry out contact tracing and that the
process is ongoing. The two latent cases are not linked to the
active one, he said.
Separately, a Health Ministry spokesman said, “The risk of
transmission to persons who are not close contacts of a TB case –
for example, through casual, brief contact – is very low. Screening
is thus generally not necessary for commuters should public
transport staff be infected.”
Two infectious disease specialists mentioned in the report also
concurred that the risk of infection faced by commuters is likely
to be low.
-- Yahoo! SG