HUNDREDS of patients and staff at a Kent hospital are to be screened for TB after a health worker was diagnosed with the disease.

Health chiefs at the Darent Valley Hospital at Dartford have revealed it is to offer emergency tuberculosis screening to almost 300 people who would have come into contact with the member of staff.

The health worker, whose details are not being divulged for confidentiality reasons, was working on Maple Ward at the Darenth Wood Road hospital.

Tuberculosis is a bacterial disease and is caught by inhaling respiratory droplets from the nose or mouth of an infected person for example through coughing or sneezing.

Not all TB sufferers are infectious but in this case the member of staff was, as the bacteria was found in their sputum.

The Kent Health Protection Agency has been notified of the incident to enable screening of the 175 patients and 115 staff to take place.

Dr Mathi Chandrakumar said the risk of patients or staff contracting the disease was very low. This was helped by the ward not caring for people who would normally have suppressed immune systems such as cancer patients, which would have made them susceptible.

He said: “The risk of transmission is very low and I do not expect anybody to have acquired the disease from this member of staff.”

Darent Valley Hospital has said other patients and staff who were not thought to be at risk would also be sent a letter explaining that they were not deemed to be in danger.

But it added that any patient who required screening for peace of mind would not be turned away.

Darent Valley Hospital said the member of staff concerned was now off work, responding well to treatment, and expected to make a full recovery.