By Kim Rahn
A nurse at Samsung Medical Center in southern Seoul has been confirmed to have tuberculosis (TB), the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said, Wednesday.
This is the second TB infection of a medical staff member in about two weeks, following the previous case of a nurse at Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital in western Seoul.
The 27-year-old female nurse at a pediatric hematology-oncology unit, whose name was withheld, was confirmed to have the disease Monday during a regular health checkup and is undergoing treatment, according to the hospital and the KCDC.
She showed no respiratory symptoms but tested positive in the mycobacterium TB test.
The KCDC is examining 86 patients who used the unit since July 1 as well as 43 of her co-workers.
In the case of Ewha hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit nurse, the KCDC’s examination found two infant patients and five co-workers had latent TB, meaning they were infected with mycobacterium TB but do not have active TB. Latent TB is not contagious.