New Mexico health officials have screened 56 babies for tuberculosis since an El Paso hospital worker tested positive for the potentially lethal respiratory infection last summer. Now, state health officials say none of the babies living here appear to have contracted the disease.
鈥淪o far we haven鈥檛 seen any clear evidence of transmission with the babies here in New Mexico, so that鈥檚 a very positive thing,鈥� said Tuberculosis Program Manager Diana Fortune.
Fortune says some tests on several babies here just to be safe. And they鈥檙e still trying to track down around 15 babies for testing.
Health officials say a pediatric nurse who was diagnosed with TB while working at in El Paso last August may have exposed as many as 750 babies to the disease.
Eight of the exposed babies from Texas and Mexico have shown signs of tuberculosis, though experts say some of those could be false positives.
None of those cases have developed dangerous infections, Fortune said.
