The Tribune

By Morgan Adderley

Tribune Staff Reporter

madderley@tribunemedia.net

HEALTH Minister Dr Duane Sands has responded to a reported case of tuberculosis at the University of the Bahamas.

Although he did not confirm or deny the case, Dr Sands emphasised the low rates of the disease in the country.

When asked by reporters if other university students should be concerned, Dr Sands said: "There will always be cases of tuberculosis that will appear sporadically. As I have said repeatedly, we have enjoyed one of the lowest rates of tuberculosis in the world.

"That said, there are individuals who get exposed and then what we do after identifying and confirming a case (is) then our public health team goes to work to identify contacts, to do the Mantoux skin testing and chest x-rays if necessary and to apply appropriate public health strategies to keep the public safe."

There has been much public concern regarding TB in recent months as accounts have surfaced of hundreds of individuals being exposed to the disease. However, Dr Sands has been steadfast that these reports are no cause for alarm.

In November 2017, Dr Sands said: "We have a very effective surveillance programme in place and they are managed according to international guidelines.

"There is standard operating procedure. When we have a patient with TB as we do literally every week in the year, contacts are traced, homes are examined, the patients are started on therapy, whether inpatient or outpatient."

"For the most part, it is a silent issue in the country.

"We don't have a major problem with uncontrolled TB because the international guidelines for surveillance, monitoring and intervention are followed very rigidly."

Earlier this month, health officials screened more than 3,000 residents in Eleuthera for TB.

On January 16, Dr Sands said that while there are over 100 confirmed cases of TB on Eleuthera, less than four of these are "active".

Of the cases in Eleuthera, Dr Sands said at the time, "those people were admitted to hospital and treated."

Dr Sands also reiterated that there is always a "baseline" level of TB cases in the Bahamas, adding that month to month suspected cases are reported and investigated, but often rarely result in positive diagnosis.