How do I report a restaurant sous chef that I think has Tuberculosis and stay incognito?
This person is white as a ghost, takes constant baths (I can hear through the apartment walls very easily), gets out of the bathtub often to cough, gag and spit stuff out. I know he spits stuff out because I then hear the toilet flush. This is not a cold because he has lived there one year. His girl friend says he has gastritis. I have Googled symptoms for TB and Gastritis. Only TB qualifies. His coughing, gagging, spitting and sometimes vomiting tells me something else is going on. He is a sous chef at a Cuban restaurant. I fear he is contaminating restaurant workers and customers, as well as the apartment he lives in. I would like to hear from someone who is savvy about pulmonary and/or infectious diseases. The management here doesn't care about anything, so telling them is out of the question. I don't want to get in trouble for reporting someone in error and cause them to lose their job or possibly file a lawsuit against me. Will the health department keep my name private?
Infectious Diseases - 9 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
YES JUST ASK THAT YOU REMAIN ANONYMOUS
2 :
Call The Department Of Health.
3 :
Contact your local CDC it is annonymous
4 :
wow, i would hate to be a costumer there. If I were you I'd say something...an Anonymous note! I've done anonymous letters and it made a difference.
5 :
Maybe he smokes? You can always report anonymously to the the county health department, but just because someone hacks up gunk doesn't mean they have TB.
6 :
why don't you nosey people just stay out of other people's lifes. How would you like someone poking his nose in your business? That's the trouble with the people in this world, they think they are the policeman of the world. Mind your own business
7 :
i would call the health dept. and block my number, and tell them that you dont want you name released! they have to keep it totally confidental.
8 :
local CDC or Health Dept BTW unless you are a medical practitioner and have examined and tested this person you can not be sure it's TB For example I lived in an apartment that had mold spores in the air ducts and I had a terrible respiratory reaction for 3 years before it was diagnosed and seen several Md's before it was diagnosed I had constant boughts of hacking and coughing w/ asthmatic like symptoms that often made me vomit because of the increased mucus and forcefulness of the coughing I too was pasty pale and clammy because of the interference with my oxygen intake and showered often because a cool shower would calm the coughing or a hot shower would help break up the congestion, I too hacked up every chance I could get in the toilet because I felt I was drowning because of the increased mucus I actually got a Dr's excuse to get me out of my lease because of the problem and have recovered and been fine since the move My friends asked me to get checked out for TB and I did with negative results and I remember feeling so badly that they thought that It was horribly embarrassing and people did make me feel like a leper especially because it was not even my fault I had the condition and once It was diagnosed they still found it hard to believe I am an RN so I have a little medical knowledge along w/ personal experience with similar symptoms just thought I would share that with you as the person on the other side of the apartment wall now that I think about it you probably don't know a thing about this person... perhaps when he is cleaning the grill at night he uses harsh degreasing chemicals on a hot grill that are scarring his lungs it could be anything and here you are loosly diagnosing and googling his symptoms If it is bothering you so much why don't you let him know your concerns
9 :
From the symptoms you list, I certainly would not jump to conclusions. Does he have the 'standard' symptoms- ++weight loss, fever, anorexia, blood in sputum, etc.? People can't have infectious TB for one year- he'd be dead by now if it was TB. As well, your local health department would've already gotten involved if it's been that long (because other patients would have reported signs and symptoms, and it would've been tracked back to the restaurant). Please keep in mind, it is not easy to acquire TB. It has to be significant exposure (length of time, space, immunity of contact person, etc.). Of course, if he has gastritis and is working as a sous chef at a restaurant- that is pretty worrying in itself. I hope he has really, really good hand washing
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