St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Maternity Employee Confirmed With Tuberculosis
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Maternity Employee Tested Positive For Tuberculosis
An employee in the maternity ward at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt hospital in Manhattan tested positive for tuberculosis this week.
According to a local NBC News report, the hospital is now alerting parents of newborns delivered at the hospital of the confirmed positive test for tuberculosis, telling them that their babies may have been exposed. One set of parents told NBC News that they had their child there about two months ago, but the hospital would not confirm how far back in time that patients may have been exposed.
The hospital released a statement late this week to the media that said any patients who were recently at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt hospital and were not contacted by the administration there were not deemed to be in contact with the employee who tested positive, NBC reports.
Based on our previous reports, infants and newborns are the most likely to contract illnesses such as tuberculosis because their immune systems are weaker than normal and not fully developed. This puts the newborns in this situation most at risk of contracting tuberculosis.
NBC reports that the threat also exists for anyone who was continuously exposed to the infected employee. The report does not indicate what position that employee holds at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt hospital in Manhattan. There are no indications that any infections have resulted from exposure at the hospital.
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