| [h=1]Third student at Bedok school diagnosed with tuberculosis[/h] Published on Oct 25, 2011 
Bedok Town Secondary School student Jarah Lachica (right), who has been diagnosed with tuberculosis, chatting with visiting schoolmate Delyshya Serafina on Monday at Changi General Hospital. Looking on is Jarah's mother Medonia Lachica. -- ST PHOTO: SAMUEL HEBy Melissa Pang A Secondary 4 student from Bedok Town Secondary School has been diagnosed with tuberculosis (TB) - the third student from the school found to have the infectious disease this year. On Monday night, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said that this new case was 'not an identified contact' of the other two students, who contracted TB in April and July this year. The three were from different academic levels and were not close contacts, said a ministry spokesman. 'However, we are conducting further genetic analysis to ascertain if the cases are linked,' she said, adding that the results will take some time to be finalised. The ministry was notified of the new TB case on Monday. The spokesman said screening of close contacts for the latest case will start, and investigations are under way to determine if there are students or teachers who have been exposed. She added that transmission of TB can occur in the community and cases may therefore not have clearly defined exposure history. 'Early detection and compliance to treatment are therefore essential to control the spread of TB in the community,' she said. In the latest case, student Jarah Lachica, 16, was admitted to Changi General Hospital (CGH) last Friday. She is in an isolation ward and on medication. But she is in good spirits and took her first O-level paper at the hospital yesterday. Her mother, Mrs Medonia Lachica, 43, said that Jarah appeared to be fine until Thursday night, when she started coughing while studying. 'She went to the toilet and coughed out quite a lot of blood. I was very worried and immediately rushed her to CGH,' said the Singapore permanent resident from the Philippines. Tests confirmed that the teenager had TB, which primarily affects a person's lungs. Her 17-year-old brother, who also studies at the school, was tested for TB in April as he had been in contact with the first infected patient. His test results were negative. Mrs Lachica, a part-time cashier, said she will take her two other children to be tested for TB. Bedok Town Secondary principal Chia Chor Yann said the school will work closely with Tan Tock Seng Hospital's Tuberculosis Control Unit to identify and screen staff and students who have been in close contact with Jarah. The school will continue to monitor students and teachers, and work closely with the relevant health authorities on preventive and intervention measures, he said. He added that none of the students and teachers screened for the previous case in April tested positive for active TB infection. The school reported its first case of TB involving a 17-year-old female student in April this year. A second student was later reported to be infected a few months later. When the first case came to light, the TB Control Unit notified the school and began testing students and teachers who had been in close contact with her. A total of 45 students, including classmates and 10 subject teachers were tested. A previous report said some students tested positive for the latent form of the disease but it is not known how many were affected. TB is spread through tiny droplets released into the air when a person with an active form of the disease coughs or sneezes. Treatment involves taking antibiotics over a period of about six months. Dr Cynthia Chee, a senior consultant at the unit, said those who have had prolonged, close exposure - in terms of the number of hours - may acquire a latent form of the disease. She said a person with latent TB infection has the TB germ in the body but remains well and does not spread the germ to others. She added that only one in 10 people with latent infection will develop the active disease. Medication is needed to prevent latent TB from becoming active. Health Ministry figures show that between January and June this year, there were 795 new cases of TB. The year's final tally is expected to exceed last year's total of 1,478 cases. MOH, in its September update on the TB situation in Singapore, had attributed the rise to factors such as increased global travel and an increased transmission in the community due to a delay in diagnosis and treatment. Worldwide, TB infection rates have gone down, according to the World Health Organisation's 2011 Global Tuberculosis Control Report published earlier this month. A total of 8.8 million people around the world fell ill with TB compared with 9.4 million people a year ago. |
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