Aug 27, 2008 2:36 pm US/Pacific
Kaiser Begins Testing SF Patients Exposed To TB
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5 / AP / BCN) ―
Kaiser Permanente began tuberculosis testing Wednesday for patients, employees and visitors who may have been exposed over the past five months to a San Francisco maternity ward worker diagnosed with the infectious disease.
Kaiser said the part-time employee worked the night shift in the postpartum unit of its San Francisco Medical Center from March 10 to Aug. 10 and no longer works there.
The medical center on Tuesday started notifying people who may have been exposed, including about 960 mothers and their infants.
Patients were being screened with a simple skin test, but infants also were undergoing a physical exam and chest X-ray. Some babies could be treated with antibiotics as a precaution.
All tests, services and medications provided in connection with the possible exposure will be free of charge, Kaiser spokeswoman Gerri Ginsburg said.
Kaiser officials said the infection risk is low, and the worker had a common strain of TB that responds well to treatment.
No patients had tested positive since physicians began alerting them, but of the 115 employees who might have been exposed, one other employee tested positive.
It is not known, however, whether that employee contracted tuberculosis from the first employee, Ginsburg said.
Kaiser Permanente screens all employees for tuberculosis upon employment and at least once a year after that, Ginsburg said.
"We're reviewing our policies and we will make any changes necessary," she said.
(© CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Associated Press and Bay City News contributed to this report.)
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