SINGAPORE - Selected children and staff of a Bukit Batok pre-school are being screened for tuberculosis (TB), after a person at the pre-school was diagnosed with the infectious disease.

The infected patient was placed on medical leave immediately after the diagnosis was made and is being treated, said a Health Ministry spokesman.

The results of the TB screenings are still pending, and those who were in close contact with the infected patient in the PAP Community Foundation (PCF) Sparkletots pre-school are being identified, said the spokesman.

She added that the Health Ministry and the Tuberculosis Control Unit (TBCU) were notified on Nov 26 of this TB case at the preschool in Bukit Batok Block 293.

The spokesman noted that TB is spread through close, prolonged contact with an infected person, and not through contact with items or surfaces touched by the patient.

As patients would be on medical leave and have started on treatment, there is no risk of further exposure to the school, she added.

Those found to have the latent form of TB infection are also not infectious, and the TBCU will follow up with them, she said.

A parent said he was informed of the TB case last Thursday (Dec 12) via a physical letter from the pre-school, and questioned why parents were notified only two weeks after the authorities found out about the case.

"There was a parent-teacher conference a week before we were told, and all of us were there but we didn't know that there was an infection," said the parent, who first wrote to Stomp about the incident. "The question is why were we kept in the dark; why were there so many days of waiting time?"

Responding to queries, a spokesman for PCF Sparkletots said the pre-school was informed of the TB patient last Tuesday (Dec 10) by the TBCU.

The parent said that most of those contacted for the screening, were children from the same class.

The Early Childhood and Development Agency said TBCU has also identified some staff to undergo screening.

The PCF spokesman declined to say if the affected patient was a staff or a pre-school pupil, citing patient confidentiality.

"As there is no further risk of the TB bacteria spreading to other people in the centre, TBCU has advised PCF Sparkletots that closure of centre is not necessary," said the spokesman.

Symptoms of active TB include a persistent cough, chest pain when breathing or coughing, tiredness, fever, night sweats and loss of appetite or weight.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.