Laikipia — Health officials in Laikipia County are a worried lot after 20 inmates at the Nyahururu GK Prison tested positive for Tuberculosis (TB).
County TB program Coordinator David Muriithi, said one of inmates at the facility was found with drug resistant TB, sending panic among the prisons' community.
Mureithi said that at least 700 inmates were screened during a weeklong exercise in collaboration with the hospital laboratory facility.
"We have been carrying out preventive and promotive services at the facility following a spike of the disease prevalence in the last two months. We have since picked 200 samples for further scrutiny," he said.
The official blamed congestion at the facility as the major contributor to the spread of the killer disease.
With a capacity of 600 male inmates, the facility has been holding over 700, translating to more than 100 inmates beyond capacity.
"The number of inmates increases by the day, forcing the management to transfer them to the nearby Nyandarua GK prison in OlJororok constituency," said an officer at the facility saying that this is the only way they have been trying to decongest the facility.
Mureithi recommended the construction of an isolation ward to curb the spread of the disease.
"The disease is of great public health concern, more so in such congregated settings as correctional facilities. There is a need therefore to construct an isolation ward where those found with such kind of ailments can be put to avoid spread," he said.
The officer noted that a successful TB control is beneficial for the community at large since most prisons experience late diagnosis, inadequate treatment, overcrowding, poor ventilation and repeated prison transfers that fuel transmission of TB.
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Laikipia Governor Joshua Irungu, last evening, ordered the construction of an isolation ward at the facility starting next week in a bid to manage the spread.
"We are treating the matter as urgent. Starting next week my administration will start setting up an isolation ward in a bid to expand the facility and curb the spread of the disease," he said.
TB usually affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body, such as the brain, the kidneys, or the spine.
The prisons management on several occasions decried congestion at the facility, capable of accommodating 350 inmates, with the remand being the most affected.
The Area Court Users Committee recently recommended a case review exercise at the facility in a bid to decongest it. - Kna
