Inmates at jail get tests for TB
The McCracken jail testing of all inmates follows a female inmate's complaint of chest pains. She and her boyfriend test positive.
By Anne Thrower athrower@paducahsun.com--270.575.8653Tuesday, June 28, 2005
All inmates at the McCracken County Regional Jail are being tested for tuberculosis after two prisoners tested positive for the disease, Jailer Cliff Gill said Monday.
The Purchase District Health Department confirmed that a female inmate tested positive for active tuberculosis, and Gill said her boyfriend has also tested positive. The two have been at the jail since February on drug-related charges.
The woman was taken from Paducah by ambulance to a state prison on June 1, and her boyfriend was transferred by ambulance Thursday, Gill said.
It was decided to move the couple by ambulance to reduce the risk of exposure, which is spread through the air, he said. Otherwise, jail workers would have had to wear masks and keep the windows open the entire trip to avoid possible exposure.
Jail officials did not realize until recently they were a couple who had lived together for nine years.
There was no indication either inmate might have TB until April, when the female inmate was taken to the hospital after complaining of chest pains, Gill said. She was not diagnosed with TB while at the hospital, he said.
Upon returning to the jail, she was tested for TB. Gill said jail officials were initially told the test was negative, although he wouldn't say who provided the incorrect information, and she was returned to the general jail population. Jail officials later learned that she did have the disease after her test results were forwarded to health officials in Frankfort, he said.
"Once we found out she did have TB, we did everything the health department told us to do," Gill said.
Sharon Godec, nursing director of the Purchase District Health Department, said Monday about 100 people have received the skin test so far. All of the 70-plus female inmates and jail employees have been tested. About 50 people who had come in contact with the female inmate were sent letters asking them to come for the skin test on Monday.
Positive results on the skin test means a person was exposed, but doesn't necessarily mean the person has active TB, Godec emphasized.
Gill said none of the female inmates has tested positive on the skin test, except the woman with active TB. One employee has tested positive on the skin test, but that doesn't mean the exposure came from a jail inmate, Gill said.
The male inmate with the disease was isolated in the jail's TB cell on June 17 after his skin test came back positive, Gill said.
Gill said six male inmates in the same cell block as the man with active TB have tested positive in skin tests, but X-rays did not show the disease. Medicine is available that will help prevent them from getting the disease, Godec said.
Gill said it's possible the male inmates may have been exposed while using a homemade smoking pipe that was found in the cell.
Meanwhile, an effort is under way to give skin tests to more people who may have come in contact with the couple.
Gill said it's not unusual for someone at the jail to have TB, but it is the first time all inmates have been tested in the 12 years he has been jailer. The jail had 473 inmates on Monday.
It takes health officials about an hour to give the serum-injection skin test to 25 inmates, Gill said. Health officials hope to complete the testing at the jail this week, he said.
People with the disease take four medications for six to nine months, Godec said. A person usually doesn't pass on the disease after being treated for two weeks, Godec said.
Gill said sometimes people falsely say they have TB, thinking they will be let out of jail. Inmates also sometimes report they have AIDS or hepatitis, he said.
The jail added a physician's assistant earlier this year. The jail also has a full-time registered nurse. The physician's assistant has begun health assessments on all inmates who stay longer than 14 days, Gill said. The assessments were planned prior to the TB incidents.