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| Handling Of TB In Conn. Prison Assailed |
| By The Hartford Courant |
| Published: 08/02/2001 |
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At least 44 inmates and five correction officers at J.B. Gates Connecticut Correctional Institution in East Lyme have tested positive for exposure to tuberculosis after two inmates contracted the disease, a union representing correction officers said Tuesday. Union members claim the state acted slowly in diagnosing and quarantining the inmates with the highly contagious disease. The state put other inmates, prison staff and the public at risk by not properly notifying and testing people who had come in contact with the inmates, members said. 'I don't think the department has been taking this seriously,' said Joe Stone, president of AFSCME Local 1565. 'Tuberculosis is something that you don't mess around with.' Correction officials declined to comment on whether any inmates or staff tested positive to exposure to TB and would confirm only that two inmates actually contracted TB, a potentially fatal disease that infects the lungs and other organs. The disease is spread by an infected person's coughing or sneezing and contraction requires close and sustained contact with an infected person. The infected inmates were discovered after two rounds of TB testing in the past two months at Gates, prison officials said. One inmate tested positive in May; the other in July. Both were immediately transferred to the state prison in Montville where they were treated in a special room where air is regulated to prevent the spread of the airborne disease. One of the inmates has been released from prison. The union has filed a complaint with the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, urging the state to stop admitting and releasing inmates at Gates, and to stop using inmates at the prerelease facility in work crews around the state. Correction officials and a state doctor said the problem is under control and staff, inmates and the community are not at risk. 'The department is taking this seriously,' said Brian Garnett, executive director of the department's office of public information. Garnett said all inmates and staff at Gates and Corrigan Correctional Institution in Montville are being tested or will be tested soon. Medical staff are available to answer questions about the disease, he said. |
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