A hotel professional working in the Lisbon region has been diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis, a disease that can prove fatal if not treated, but which is curable with antibiotics.
For now health authorities are monitoring the case; identifying contacts at risk, and referring them for screening.
According to a statement by the DGS (general health directorate), there is no evidence of any increased risk to the population.
“All recommended isolation and treatment measures have been complied with in this case,” said the authority in a written answer to questions from Lusa, and everything being done is “in accordance with the public health standards and guidelines applied” to such cases.
Pulmonary tuberculosis is mainly transmitted through the air when a person with the disease releases small infected particles by coughing, talking or sneezing.
The risk of infection depends on the severity of the disease, adds the DGS, as well as the proximity and duration of contact, and conditions of the location.
“Only tuberculosis that affects the respiratory tract is contagious. When a case is identified, health authorities track close contacts – people who have spent several hours with the patient – to detect possible infections,” the authority stresses, explaining that screening begins by ruling out active disease through symptoms and chest X-rays, and continues with a blood test (IGRA) which assesses whether there has been previous contact with the bacteria.
Screening aims to ensure early detection of cases of disease and prevention of transmission.
Health professionals were alerted to this case by “a complaint”, they reveal, denouncing ‘cases of tuberculosis in a hotel’.
As yet, there has been no identification of the hotel.
According to Wikipedia, tuberculosis infection disproportionally affects low-income populations and countries. “As of 2023, eight countries accounted for more than two thirds of global TB cases: India (26%), Indonesia (10%), China (6.8%), the Philippines (6.8%), Pakistan (6.3%), Nigeria (4.6%), Bangladesh (3.5%) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (3.1%)”.
Source: SIC/ Wikipedia
