A student of Menntaskólinn vid Hamrahlíd, a college in Reykjavík, was recently diagnosed with tuberculosis, accordingn to visir.is. A number of people, mainly the patient’s fellow students, has since then been tested for the disease. Conclusive results won’t be in until fall.
The Directorate of Health.
“I can confirm that about three weeks ago, tuberculosis was diagnosed in a foreign student at Menntaskólinn vid Hamrahlíd,” says Haraldur Briem, Chief Epidemiologist for Iceland. “The student has now completed his treatment, is back home and in good health.”
According to Briem, in such cases, those who have had close interactions with an infected patient are tested for the bacteria. “The tests are performed at the Primary Health Care of the Capital Area’s Division of Communicable Disease Control. A group of students has already been tested. No sign of the disease has been detected, but only a short period of time has passed. The same group will be retested in September.”
According to the Chief Epidemiologist, five to ten cases of tuberculosis are detected every year in Iceland. They are limited to elderly people who caught the disease a long time ago when tuberculosis was wide spread. They had not fallen ill at the time, but then the bacteria resurfaced. The other group is young people, visiting Iceland.
