Please note that the outbreak is not active since the affected individuals cannot transmit the disease.
The Department of Health of the Generalitat has detected a total of 10 cases of tuberculosis related to the occupied settlement of the former B-9 institute in Badalona (Barcelona) since November 2023, cases that indicate that they occur in people in poverty, as reported in a statement this Friday.
According to ‘El Periódico de Catalunya’, between November 2023 and June 2024, Health received a total of 4 notifications of cases of pulmonary tuberculosis in men from sub-Saharan Africa living in Badalona without a fixed address or residents in occupied spaces.
It was not until the last case, in June 2024, that it was determined that this individual lived in a settlement in a former occupied institute in Badalona, the former B9 institute, where more than 150 people lived in vulnerable conditions.
During 2024, three interventions were carried out in the area, identifying 10 sick individuals with different degrees of clinical evolution, individuals whose situations are currently being monitored from an epidemiological point of view.
The Department states that all affected individuals are under clinical monitoring with the appropriate treatment and that there is «no evidence» of active tuberculosis cases that can transmit the disease, so it is not considered that there is currently an active outbreak.
DIFFICULTIES WITH TRACEABILITY
In the statement, Health argues that it is «difficult» to know to what extent the cases detected since late 2023 have lived in the area and for how long.
They point out that all cases have been in this space «at some point,» but this does not mean that they have been infected there, especially considering that they all come from countries where tuberculosis is endemic.
They emphasize that among the main determinants of contagion of this disease is living in overcrowded conditions, as it increases the risk of exposure, and also that individuals in poverty often have difficulty accessing health services, making it difficult for both detection and treatment.
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