Members of the health profession working at St Luke’s Hospital are extremely worried about the increasing number of cases of TB diagnosed in the Infectious Disease Unit and about what they claim as the lack of safety measures taken by the authorities.

Sources have told The Malta Independent on Sunday that the number of cases of TB has increased dramatically in recent months, but still nothing is being done by the health authorities.

They pointed out that most of the positive cases were diagnosed in irregular immigrants, adding that many of them reside in open centres and, as a result, pass on the contagious disease to others.

Tuberculosis is transmitted by droplet infection (as in the case of the common cold) making this organism very dangerous, as it can spread quite easily from person to person.

Furthermore, the sources said, the number of TB cases in Maltese people is on the increase – when it was practically non-existent before – possibly due to infection from immigrants.

According to official statistics issued by the Public Health Department, between January and February this year, 11 cases of TB were diagnosed, an increase of three cases over the same period last year.

During January, there were seven cases of TB registered with the Disease Surveillance Unit. Of these, six were males and one was female. This was an increase in the number of cases diagnosed over last year, with only three cases diagnosed in January 2005.

Another five cases were registered in February this year, – four males and one female.

In the first three months of this year, say the sources, more than 50 cases have been diagnosed.

During 2006, there were 29 cases of pulmonary TB – 23 in men and the remaining three in women. According to the report, five of these cases were imported.

Last year, it was reported that there had been one death from pulmonary tuberculosis.

In 2005, there were 11 cases of TB – 10 of which were diagnosed in males. There were another four cases diagnosed and these were described as “imported.” There was also one death caused by TB.

In the Chest Unit – the unit that screens and tests people who are at risk of TB – 1,861 irregular immigrants were tested in 2005 on their arrival in Malta. Another 912 refugees and people with humanitarian status were screened before they left the closed barracks for the open centres.

The sources also said that a number of cases of multi-drug-resistant TB had also been identified. This is a very dangerous organism, since it is resistant to most antibiotics as it is a capsulated bacterium, and anyone who acquires this infection can only be treated with very strong, expensive antibiotics that are given intravenously, with all the associated side effects.

According to some sources, although this could not be confirmed independently, the TB vaccine given to teenagers does not protect them from the TB strains now being diagnosed, and this could place the Maltese population at risk.

They also expressed their concern over the low profile given to this problem by the health authorities and the lack of action to protect the public. Much has been said about the Bird Flu pandemic, but unfortunately the authorities seem to shutting their eyes to this threat, which is already taking over our shores.

In an article that appeared in The Malta Independent on Sunday on 9 July last year, it was reported that several members of staff working with the Refugees Commission had tested positive for active TB, following contact with irregular immigrants.



Facts about TB

• At least one-third of the world’s population is thought to be infected with the TB bacteria, Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

• TB is a chronic bacterial infection. It is airborne and usually infects the lungs, although other organs and parts of the body can also be involved.

• Most people who are infected with M. tuberculosis have latent TB, but some will develop active TB disease.

• According to World Health Organisation estimates, eight million people worldwide develop active TB each year, and nearly two million die.

• TB is spread when a person who has active TB exhales air with TB bacteria and another person inhales the bacteria from the air.