HEALTH experts are reassuring the public after a secondary school pupil in Luton was diagnosed with tuberculosis.
NHS Luton has refused to say which school the pupil attends, or exactly when the case of TB was reported, only saying that it was in “recent months”.
A letter sent to the Herald&Post said parents of pupils at the school were concerned and had been given limited information.
But a spokesperson for NHS Luton said there was no increased risk of people catching the disease in Luton, which is classified as a high-prevalance area for TB.
She said: “We would like to state clearly that this is a single case and is not linked to an outbreak of TB in Luton, nor is there any increased danger of TB to the general public.
“While Luton is officially a high-prevalence area for TB, in 2010 the rate of infection was still just over 50 people per 100,000 members of the population.
“Luton is fortunate in that we have a very efficient, effective and highly respected TB nursing team, and they have been involved in this situation from the start.
“As soon as the case was identified the TB nursing service followed best practice and screened all close contacts of the patient and anybody deemed to have been at risk from infection.
“It is actually quite difficult to catch TB from an infected person; close and prolonged contact is required. All those considered to be at any risk were kept informed of the process and all relevant action was taken. On behalf of the local NHS and NHS services we utterly refute any allegation to the contrary.
“NHS Luton would like to reassure local people that when cases of TB are identified here, they are dealt with in a timely and effective manner.
“While we would never discourage people from being alert to the signs of TB, even in a high-prevalence area such as Luton it remains a difficult infection to contract.”