RAF nurse from Tuxford died after medics missed tuberculosis symptoms
The family of an RAF nurse who died from tuberculosis are campaigning for greater awareness of the symptoms after a coroner found there were "missed opportunities" to save her.
A jury at an inquest into the death of Sgt Carianne Franks found she contracted the disease while volunteering in London during the pandemic.
The 30-year-old, from Tuxford, North Nottinghamshire, was told she had pneumonia and Covid-19 during subsequent treatment at hospitals in Lincoln and Bassetlaw.
She was only screened for TB the day before she died.
At her inquest, coroner Laurinda Bower said: "There were a number of missed opportunities throughout Carrianne's care at both Lincoln and Bassetlaw... On the balance of probabilities, opportunities to make an earlier diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis were missed."
Carianne's mother Bev said: "It still really upsets me that she's not here.
"They were just giving different antibiotics for a different disease that it wasn't proven she had and the disease she had got they weren't testing for."
Her father Chris added: "This shouldn't have happened, she should be on this chair with us now."
Sgt Franks was among the first volunteers at London's Nightingale Hospital during the pandemic.
She is believed to have had contact with a TB patient at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in November 2020 but was never told.
She was later admitted to Lincoln County Hospital suffering from a cough and nighT sweats. Despite never testing positive she was treated for Covid-19 and pneumonia.
Sgt Franks was also treated at Bassetlaw Hospital, but was not tested for pulmonary TB until the day before her death.
Her mother said: "It's a disease that we thought had died out, but it hasn't. There were 4,000 cases of TB in the year Carrianne died – that's a lot of instances. Not many died but our daughter did... Why can't you test for TB when you're testing for everything else?"
What is tuberculosis?
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infection that usually affects the lungs. It can be treated with antibiotics but can be serious if untreated. There's a vaccine that helps protect some people who are at risk from TB.
Symptoms include:
a cough lasting more than 3 weeks
feeling tired or exhausted
a high temperature or night sweats
loss of appetite
weight loss
feeling generally unwell
Sometimes you can have TB in your body but have no symptoms.
How many people have TB in the UK?
Before antibiotics were introduced, TB was a major health problem in the UK.
Nowadays, the condition is much less common. However, in the last 20 years, TB cases have gradually increased, particularly among ethnic minority communities who are originally from countries where TB is more common.
In 2014, more than 6,500 cases of TB were reported in England.
How is TB treated?
With treatment, TB can usually be cured. Most people will need a course of antibiotics, usually for six months.
What about the TB vaccine?
The BCG vaccine can provide effective protection against TB in up to eight out of 10 people who are given it.
Currently, BCG vaccinations are only recommended for groups of people who are at a higher risk of developing TB, including children living in areas with high rates of TB.
The hospitals which treated Sgt Franks have all said they have taken action in response to her death.
The United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust said in a statement: "We hope that the response by the coroner in issuing a Prevention of Future Deaths Notice to national agencies will help to further raise awareness about tuberculosis."
Dr Tim Noble, executive medical director at Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals, said: "This was a complex and atypical case, and while the Coroner praised the Trust on our policies and guidance, we acknowledge that there were missed opportunities which, potentially, could have led to an earlier diagnosis."
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