The Mid Western Health Board has denied that Limerick prison is facing a TB epidemic. A screening programme has confirmed that 140 out of 200 prisoners, who have reacted positively to an initial test for the disease, will now have to have chest X-rays to check if they have contacted the disease. The screening began after a male prisoner was diagnosed with the disease. He has now been transferred to a prison hospital wing.
Screening programmes are obligatory once TB has been identified. The screening programme involves two stages, an initial skin test which, if positive, is followed by a chest X-Ray. The Board confirmed today that 200 people have so far had the skin test, as a result of which 140 now have to be sent for the chest X-Ray. Prisoners and prison officers took part in the screening. It was also offered to woman prisoners although they are housed separately.
A positive skin test could indicate an individual had been exposed to the TB infection but not the disease, and can safely be put on preventative treatment. About 40 to 45 cases of TB are notified to the Board annually. A screening programme follows each notification.
