More children diagnosed with TB
A further 21 children who attend a daycare centre in Stockholm have tested positive for tuberculosis, bringing the count up to 30 in total.
The test results were formally confirmed Monday evening by Stockholm’s Infectious Disease Unit.
58 children were tested last week after a teacher from the Rainbow Daycare Centre in Bromma, a suburb of the capital, was diagnosed with TB. The children are all under seven years of age.
The newly diagnosed 21 children will undergo lung x-rays on Tuesday. The remaining children are believed to be unaffected but will be retested in 60 days.
An additional 60 children who have had sporadic contact with the Rainbow Daycare will also undergo testing on Tuesday.
One child is believed to have caught TB from the employee and is being treated at the Astrid Lindgren Children’s Hospital. Doctor Åke Örtqvist says it's hard to say how the disease will progress.
"Doctors have begun treatment, but it can take six to eight weeks to get test results back," he said.
TB usually goes to the lungs but it can invade the body’s organs and cause inflammation of the brain. Children are more susceptible than adults. A treatment of antibiotics over four to nine months, however, can help.
According to the regional disease centre of Stockholm there is a low risk of contracting tuberculosis from casual contact, for example in shops or on public transport.
Doctors at the Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control are now trying to trace the source of the infection. Tuberculosis is on the rise in Sweden with a 13% rise in cases since last year.
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The test results were formally confirmed Monday evening by Stockholm’s Infectious Disease Unit.
58 children were tested last week after a teacher from the Rainbow Daycare Centre in Bromma, a suburb of the capital, was diagnosed with TB. The children are all under seven years of age.
The newly diagnosed 21 children will undergo lung x-rays on Tuesday. The remaining children are believed to be unaffected but will be retested in 60 days.
An additional 60 children who have had sporadic contact with the Rainbow Daycare will also undergo testing on Tuesday.
One child is believed to have caught TB from the employee and is being treated at the Astrid Lindgren Children’s Hospital. Doctor Åke Örtqvist says it's hard to say how the disease will progress.
"Doctors have begun treatment, but it can take six to eight weeks to get test results back," he said.
TB usually goes to the lungs but it can invade the body’s organs and cause inflammation of the brain. Children are more susceptible than adults. A treatment of antibiotics over four to nine months, however, can help.
According to the regional disease centre of Stockholm there is a low risk of contracting tuberculosis from casual contact, for example in shops or on public transport.
Doctors at the Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control are now trying to trace the source of the infection. Tuberculosis is on the rise in Sweden with a 13% rise in cases since last year.
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