TB Scare At Nursing Home

The elderly residents of an Aberdeenshire nursing home are being screened for tuberculosis after a member of staff fell ill with a suspected case of the potentially fatal infection.

The staff member at the privately run Pitcairn Lodge in Kirkton of Skene is understood to have become unwell within the past two weeks. A spokeswoman at NHS Grampian stressed yesterday that the screening of residents was purely a precautionary measure.

She said: “NHS Grampian can confirm that a member of staff working in an Aberdeenshire care home is being treated for suspected tuberculosis. TB is not particularly infectious. It would be rare for this to have been passed on to other residents or staff members.

“However, NHS Grampian has written to all the residents. As a routine precautionary measure, the residents are being offered screening for TB, either by a chest X-ray or a TB blood test. Screening is still under way and full results are not yet available.”