3 SMRT staff found to have tuberculosis
(Photo: Reuters)
Three SMRT staff members – two train drivers and a crew manager – have been diagnosed with tuberculosis (TB).
The trio, who were from Tanah Merah station, were diagnosed with the disease four to six weeks ago, a Straits Times report on Saturday (6 August) said.
Two were found to have latent TB while the other was found to have active TB, which is contagious. Non-infectious latent TB can develop into active TB if left untreated.
SMRT staff from the Tanah Merah station have since been screened although the number of people tested remains unknown. Results of the testing should be out in a few weeks, the report said citing sources.
An SMRT spokesman said that the company has been actively working with the authorities to carry out contact tracing and that the process is ongoing. The two latent cases are not linked to the active one, he said.
Separately, a Health Ministry spokesman said, “The risk of transmission to persons who are not close contacts of a TB case – for example, through casual, brief contact – is very low. Screening is thus generally not necessary for commuters should public transport staff be infected.”
Two infectious disease specialists mentioned in the report also concurred that the risk of infection faced by commuters is likely to be low.
