At the Special Council meeting held on 7 August, 2019, an update about the impact of the Llwynhendy TB screening exercise carried out in June 2019 was provided by Dr. Gareth Morgan, Hywel Dda University Health Board and Dr. Brendan Mason, Public Health Wales. They also outlined what will happen next.
The full update is available below, but in summary the message from Dr Morgan and Dr Mason was:
- More than 1,400 people were screened during the June exercise;
- No new cases of active TB have been identified;
- A further 1,100 people will receive a letter inviting them to attend a screening at Prince Philip Hospital during the weeks commencing 2 and 9 September, 2019;
- If you have questions contact the TB helpline on 029 2082 7627;
- IF YOU RECEIVE AN INVITE TO THE SEPTEMBER SCREENING, MAKE EVERY EFFORT TO MAKE AN APPOINTMENT.
Llwynhendy Community TB Screening Exercise – Update, July 2019
Recap of findings
- More than 1,400 people were screening during the screening exercise in June 2019.
- No new cases of active TB have been identified through the screening exercise to date.
- 76 cases of latent TB have been identified through the screening exercise to date. N.B. Latent TB is not infectious, cannot be passed to other people and does not require urgent treatment.
- 53 individuals received inconclusive results and will be invited for retesting as part of deferred screening.
- Screening was deferred for more than 600 individuals that could not be screened at the screening sessions in June.
Patients requiring further testing and/or treatment
- The 76 individuals identified through the screening exercise as having latent TB have been sent a written invitation to attend a dedicated TB clinic at Prince Philip Hospital in Llanelli to discuss the results and treatment.
- The 53 individuals requiring repeat testing after receiving inconclusive results will be invited for retesting as part of deferred screening (see below).
- Dedicated TB clinics have already started taking place at Prince Philip Hospital in Llanelli and will continue to run until September 2019.
Deferred screening
- Deferred screening will be offered to approximately 1100 individuals in total. These individuals include:
- those 600 individuals who were not screened at the screening sessions in June;
- 350 individuals who only received partial screening at the screening sessions in June;
- individuals requiring repeat testing after receiving inconclusive results in June;
- eligible individuals who have made contact through the helpline number since the screening sessions in June.
- Deferred screening will take place during the first two weeks of September at Prince Philip Hospital in Llanelli.
- Eligible individuals will be sent a written invitation to attend the deferred screening. They will be offered a range of available screening slots and asked to contact the screening centre by telephone to confirm which slot they would like to attend.
BCG vaccination clinics
- As an additional control measure, patients who received negative results from the screening who are under the age of 35 years will be invited by Hywel Dda University Health Board to receive a BCG vaccination in the coming weeks.
- Public Health Wales and Hywel Dda University Health Board are in the process of arranging dedicated BCG clinics in the area to carry out the vaccinations, and those eligible to attend will be notified in due course.
Extra guidance for the members of the community
- The open screening phase of the community screening exercise is now closed. Screening will now take place by invitation only.
- Individuals in the target group (see Appendix A) who have not been screened and do not have symptoms of TB should contact the TB helpline on 029 2082 7627.
- Patients who have received a letter from Hywel Dda UHB in relation to their results and have any queries should contact 01267 283143.
- Individuals who have been screened but have not received their results should contact their GP to ensure that the address with which they are registered is current and correct. Information Governance prevents Public Health Wales providing results to patients by phone so patients should not contact Public Health Wales directly for their results.
- Individuals with symptoms of TB should contact their GP or NHS Direct Wales on 0845 46 47.
- The phlebotomy service at Price Philip Hospital will not be affected during the screening. An additional phlebotomy service will be brought in to aid the screening.
Appendix A
Target group for Llwynhendy Community Screening Exercise The groups of people eligible to be screened are:
- People who have received a letter inviting them to attend for screening#
- Adult customers and employees of the Joiners Arms public house in Llwynhendy between 2005 and 2018 only, who have not previously been identified as a contact of someone infected with TB
- Adults who have been in the same room for more than 8 hours as someone with TB, within four months before the person with TB was diagnosed and treated
