Staff at the Eastern Health Board's refugee unit are being tested for immunity to tuberculosis after concerns over possible work-related health risks. The unit, which is situated in the grounds of St James's Hospital in Dublin, was closed for a time this week to allow the tests to be carried out. Staff who are found to have no immunisation against TB will be provided with a vaccine, according to an EHB spokeswoman.
Since last November, the board has operated a voluntary screening service for asylum-seekers, which tests for TB, hepatitis B and HIV. The take-up among those asylum-seekers registering with the EHB is more than 25 per cent, according to the spokeswoman; however, many asylum-seekers come from countries with little or no TB and are therefore not at risk of the disease.
A small number of asylum-seekers, described as "a handful", have tested positive for the disease, the spokeswoman said. The EHB deals with the bulk of asylum-seekers coming into the State. The weekly numbers the unit deals rose to an all-time high of 125 last February, but the numbers have now tapered off. The unit moved to St James's Hospital last year after staff took industrial action over conditions at the previous offices in Castle Street. The threat of further industrial action in the unit was lifted last month when the board agreed to appoint three additional community welfare officers to deal with the increasing workload.
TB is a highly contagious disease spread when people who have active untreated TB germs in their lungs or throat cough, sneeze or speak. Worldwide, it kills more people than malaria and AIDS combined; the World Health Organisation predicts it will claim 70 million victims by the year 2020.
In Ireland, however, the disease is on the decline. The number of new cases has fallen continually throughout the 1990s, from 640 in 1991 to 434 in 1996.
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