Close to 150 people from affected Ang Mo Kio block screened for TB
Residents and former residents of Blk 203, Ang Mo Kio Ave 3, get screened for TB. Photo: Jason Quah/TODAY
SINGAPORE — Close to 150 current and former residents of Block 203, Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3 have been screened for tuberculosis (TB) as of 5pm Friday (June 17), and will be notified of their results within the next two weeks, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said in an update.
Another 11 young residents aged five and below were given appointments for screening at the TB Control Unit.
MOH said that its officers and grassroot leaders have engaged more than 75 per cent of the households and will continue going door-to-door. The 160-unit public housing block has more than 350 residents.
The screening comes after a “highly unusual” cluster of six multi-drug-resistant TB cases were detected in the block across four different units where the occupants of each unit were unrelated to each other. As the cluster did not fit the usual pattern of TB transmission, MOH broke away from the usual routine screening of a patient’s close contacts.
It began offering free on-site TB screening to residents as a precautionary measure on Thursday, and will continue to do so until Sunday.
The cluster is unusual because TB is typically transmitted through close and prolonged contact with an infectious individual. Other than the three individuals who lived in the same unit, the individuals did not know or interact with each other, or congregate at the same common areas, the ministry said.
All six individuals are no longer infectious and are not a public health risk, MOH added.
The cluster was first detected by Dr Cynthia Chee, senior consultant at Tan Tock Seng Hospital’s Tuberculosis Control Unit, who reported it to the ministry in May, leading to an investigation.
Residents can get their screening done at the void deck of block 203 from 9am to 9pm on Saturday and Sunday. Former residents who have lived in the block from July 2011, or residents who miss this screening can get it done at any Sata CommHealth clinic until June 30.
