title: Controlled management of public relations following a public health incident.
abstract: This paper describes the management of public relations following an outbreak of multidrug resistant TB at a London hospital. Eight patients were involved, all of the secondary cases occurred in HIV seropositive patients, and three cases died. The paper describes how the the Incident Committee undertook to recall contacts of the cases for screening, inform the general practitioners of all of the contacts about their patients' exposure, warn other organizations and professionals interested or involved in the management of HIV in the London area as to the nature of the incident, and establish a helpline, before informing a wider audience through the EPINET, Communicable Disease Report and national press.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Health Policy, Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham Health Authority, London.
authors.forename: G M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Holdsworth
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Breathnach
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Asboe
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Free
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cranston
authors.forename: B S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Peters
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: de Ruiter
mesh_terms: D017088:AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections / Q000517:prevention & control*; D000465:Algorithms; D003159:Community-Institutional Relations; D016358:Contact Tracing; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000517:prevention & control*; D003663:Decision Trees; D018563:Disease Notification; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006786:Hospitals, Urban; D015277:Hotlines; D006801:Humans; D017053:Infection Control; D008131:London; D008402:Mass Media; D008403:Mass Screening; D015980:Public Health Practice; D012308:Risk Management / Q000379:methods; D018088:Tuberculosis, Multidrug-Resistant / Q000517:prevention & control*