Loma Linda VA warns veterans of possible TB exposure

Barrett Newkirk | The Desert Sun

The veterans hospital in Loma Linda is asking hundreds of patients to get tested for tuberculosis after an employee came down with the potentially fatal disease.

The VA Loma Linda Healthcare System sent letters to patients earlier this month saying they may have been exposed to TB while at the Jerry L. Pettis Memorial VA Medical Center between June 1 and Oct. 27. The letter stated that infection was unlikely but a free blood test was available at the hospital.

The notice was sent to 1,727 patients, said hospital spokesperson Kristen Hall.

As of Tuesday, no other cases of tuberculosis had been confirmed, said Susan Strong, TB controller with the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health. Strong expected testing to continue into the middle of January.

She said the one patient with confirmed TB is "in care and doing well."

U.S. Navy veteran Ray Bentley, 75, of Desert Hot Springs, said he didn't think much of the letter until he received a follow-up phone call last week suggesting the hospital could help arrange transportation for him to take the test.

"When I got the call I thought maybe this was serious," Bentley said.

The letter to Bentley is dated Nov. 2 and postmarked Nov. 13. Along with testing, it encourages people who believe they may have symptoms of TB to contact their primary care physician.

Bentley travels an hour each way to see doctors in Loma Linda every few months. Even though he wasn't worried about his own health, he planned to get the free TB test. He was more concerned about other people who may have been exposed, not just veterans but also their loved-ones who had previously been at the hospital.

Tuberculosis is a bacterial infection spread through the air that typically invades a person's lungs, making it difficult to breathe. It infects about 10,000 people a year in the United States and killed 555 in the U.S. 2013. Worldwide, it was responsible for 1.5 million deaths in 2014.

Hall said the hospital learned about the employee's diagnosis on Oct. 27 and used public health guidelines to determine testing parameters. She said the employee worked in the outpatient clinic area.

Patients who received the warning letter were either in close contact with the employee or in the same area, Hall said. Anyone who normally received transportation help from the VA could arrange the same assistance for the TB test, she said.

Large-scale TB testing initiatives are rare. Two years ago, every student and staff member at Indio High School was tested after a 14-year-old male student was diagnosed with TB. Just over 1,800 people were tested in 24 hours and two more cases of active TB were found.

Strong doubted it would be possible to determine how the person at Loma Linda contracted tuberculosis.

"You can get it many, many years before it becomes active," she said. "It's really hard to nail down who got who sick. That is generally something we cannot get on any case."

Health and wellness reporter Barrett Newkirk can be reached at (760)778-4767, barrett.newkirk@desertsun.com or on Twitter @barrettnewkirk.