Tuberculosis at the FCC

[Nikki Stone 1]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13976549/

Two Cases Of TB Reported At FCC

WRC-TV
7:05 p.m. EDT July 21, 2006

WASHINGTON - Two people who work at the Federal Communications Commission have tested positive for tuberculosis, causing a health scare at the building. The first case was discovered in March. It was a woman who may have been exposed to tuberculosis by her grandmother many years ago. Since March, employees at the building have been getting tested, revealing a second employee with an active case of tuberculosis and 17 others who have tested positive for exposure to it.

"All of those people are getting follow-ups through chest X-rays and with their doctors if any further therapy is necessary," said Dr. Greg Pane of the D.C. Department of Health.

So far, it is unclear if the disease passed between the two employees or if they contracted it individually.

"We're glad it came to our attention," Pane said. "We did a pretty good follow up and it's ongoing."

[havocmom]

1. Just think about all the people who don't have insurance

and can't afford to even cross the threshold of a doctor's office.

TB will be rampant in America soon, if it isn't already.

[Warpy]

2. Those FCC employees probably couldn't take the time off

to go check out that cough, and it was probably just pollution or allergies or smoker's cough, right? Not worth mentioning to the primary doc at the HMO who has to rush in, rush out, and just order a couple of blood tests and not the chest X ray or the sputum cytology because he gets penalized for that stuff unless there's a big complaint or the patient is already starting to spit blood.

You better believe we're going to see an explosion of TB. It starts in areas where people are warehoused with no privacy, like homeless shelters, and is spread to the general public whenever they speak, cough, sneeze, or breathe hard.

Most of it is treatable. There are drug resistant strains out there, though.

[Nikki Stone 1]

3. It seems like it was poorly handled

The first case was found in May. People should have been tested immediately. Why are we hearing about this at the end of July?

As Kevin Martin is cut out of the same frat boy cloth as Michael Brown, I can't help but wonder if this was just poorly handled.

[Warpy]

10. It was probably badly handled in some ways

but consider that the Mantoux tests (the injection under the skin) takes a while to order and set up and administer and read for that number of people. Once the bureaucrats at the top were convinced by the health department that they had to deal with this, it was handled in a timely manner. If they'd truly bungled it, they'd have stonewalled the health department.

It took about a month out of every year to test everyone in the hospital I last worked in, and that employee population was much smaller.

It's not something you can order and do overnight.

[havocmom]

4. Yep, we all pass off the cough... molds in the ducts, allergies

I noticed it took doctors in my area several years to notice scads of people had pertussis! Too often, if it's not what they expect to see, they miss it in many of the folks who DO manage to get to the office for a check.

Pretty much gave up on doctors myself several years ago. Wasn't getting even a cursory glance and then there were all those sick people in the waiting room.... x( Finally got to the 'why bother?' point.

[porphyrian]

5. It could just be allergies, if they're using the old test.

And I wouldn't put it past the cheap ass bastards. The old test uses something from pigs, which can cause a false positive reaction. They've developed a new test, but the old one's probably cheaper. Either way, x-rays should alleviate any doubt.

[Nikki Stone 1]

6. That's scary. I hear TB positives have a 9-month regimen of meds to take

and the meds can destroy the liver.

It seems like a lot of these people are going to their own doctors--which they have to pay for. Cheap cheap bastards!

[porphyrian]

7. HMOs always, always, always do the cheapest thing first.

There are a bunch of tests and treatments that people don't receive in time because of this policy, thus they end up with the full-blown disease or disorder that may not even be treatable by the time it's properly diagnosed. I hate, hate, hate, hate, hate people who put money before lives.

As for the TB treatment, they'll all have to get x-rays before being put on those meds most likely. Back in 1980, when I was in sixth grade, we had mandatory TB testing at school. Back then, I was allergic to a billion things, and they used the pig-whatever test, so I showed a false positive. The next thing they do is send you for x-rays, and they realized that mine was just an allergic reaction to the test. And that's what I know about TB testing.

Edit: "being" not "begin"

[Nikki Stone 1]

8. Thanks for the information

I feel so awful for all those employees. TB is so contagious and you KNOW these clowns didn't handle it properly.

[porphyrian]

9. Really. If it had been Legionnaire's Disease, half of them...

...would already be dead.

At least the insurance companies would've saved a buck...
:eyes:

[MountainLaurel]

11. I also wonder

Whether these two individuals take the Metro, as many federal employees do. (They get a subsidy for taking public transportation.) How many more thousands could have been exposed on a tightly packed train during evening rush hour?

[Javaman]

12. Something screwy is going on here...

Just last week it was reported that several crew members on board an aircraft carrier were reported to have TB. Now this.

[Nikki Stone 1]

13. Well, that's one way to get "smaller government"

:sarcasm: