TB can affect the lungs (symbol picture)
Keystone / Silas Stein
Two pupils in two different schools have become ill with tuberculosis, a rare disease in Switzerland. One of those affected, a girl attending primary school, is being treated in hospital.
This content was published on
2 minutes
Keystone-SDA/SRF/ilj
Denise Widmer, the head of schools in the town of Suhr, canton Aarau, confirmed the primary pupil’s illness to the Swiss national broadcaster SRFExternal link after reports appeared in online Swiss media. The child has been in hospital for three weeks.
The primary school has informed its 1,350 parents about the girl’s condition by letter. It called for all those who had been in contact with the girl for more than eight hours over the last two months to go for a blood test because of a risk of transmission. This concerns around 28 people, both young and old.
It is thought the girl, who is under 12, became infected during the school summer holidays. No further measures are planned by the school, but it is in contact with the local branch of the Swiss lung league and the cantonal authorities.
Second case
It has also been revealed that a second, older pupil has come down with TB at a lower secondary school in Oberkulm, which is around 15 minutes’ drive from Suhr. This was confirmed by local school officials to the Swiss news agency. This was again thought to have happened during the holidays and parents and classmates were informed at the end of August. Blood tests will shortly take place.
The last case of school TB in Switzerland dates back to May in Sion, Valais, in which 60 people had to undergo blood testing.
Rare
There are around 550 cases of TB a year in Switzerland, according to the Federal Health OfficeExternal link, , most of which affect people who came to Switzerland from abroad.
The illnessExternal link, which is caused by bacteria that most often affect the lungs, is curable and preventable. It is spread through the air and progresses slowly.
According to an article in the Swiss Medical WeeklyExternal link published last year, TB is still a rare disease in Switzerland. According to World Health Organization figures cited in the report, the incidence rate was 7.4 per 100,000 of the population in 2015 for Switzerland, similar to that of neighbouring countries like Germany (8.1), France (8.2) and Italy (5.8).
More
More
TB to be eliminated in Switzerland by 2050
This content was published on
Although the 33 targeted countries, 21 of them in Europe, have relatively low rates of infection, the disease still kills 10,000 people a year there, predominantly homeless people, migrants, prisoners, drug users, heavy drinkers or people with HIV/AIDS, the Geneva-based WHO said on Thursday. It is in these communities that industrialised countries could pilot approaches…
Is reforming the Swiss pension system still possible, and if so, how?
Solutions still need to be found to meet the challenge of an ageing population and to improve the pensions of low-paid workers, the majority of whom are women.
This content was published on
The suspension of asylum procedures decided Monday following the fall of Bashar al-Assad affects 500 Syrian applicants in Switzerland.
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.
Read more
More
Swiss boost funding to fight AIDS, TB and malaria
This content was published on
The Swiss government is stepping up support for the fight against infectious diseases with a CHF100 million contribution to two UN health agencies.
This content was published on
Afona Chernet, a researcher at the Swiss Tropical and Public Health InstituteExternal link in Basel, examined around 100 Eritrean refugees who had lived in Switzerland for less than a year. He was looking for infectious diseases that are common in Africa. It was the first time such a study had been undertaken in Switzerland. The…
This content was published on
Its mountain sanatoriums were legendary. But pioneers also offered special Swiss therapies including a strict regime with raw fruit and vegetables or sitting in the sun clad only in a white hat and underpants. The story of Switzerland’s golden age as a health paradise during the early years of the last century is documented in…
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.