DOCTORS are writing to 89 patients who may have been in contact with a tuberculosis (TB) patient at Bishop Auckland General Hospital.

Experts say that the chances of the infection being passed in these circumstances is low but have issued the letters as a precaution.

Those contacted had been staying on the same ward as the infectious patient before the lung disease was diagnosed. The infected patient had been admitted for an unrelated medical condition.

All 89 patients are being advised to contact their GP if they develop a persistent cough, weight loss, or any other symptoms that concern them. The majority have been assessed as having a low risk of acquiring TB.

A smaller number thought to be more vulnerable to TB infection are also to be offered a series of precautionary chest x-rays. If TB is diagnosed, antibiotic treatment is available.

Dr John Sloss, consultant microbiologist and infection control doctor at County Durham and Darlington Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, said: "We have identified those people who are most likely to have been in contact with the infected patient. Tuberculosis is quite difficult to pass on even in these circumstances, so we do not believe that there is any need for them to be unduly concerned."