Last week, a student attending classes at Benson High School went to a doctor’s appointment and tested positive for active Tuberculosis.
Phil Rooney, Spokesman for the Douglas County Health Department, says the health department did an investigation and found that 193 students and about a dozen faculty members needed to be tested for possible exposure.
Rooney says those tests will start tomorrow. He says they will use a blood test since that’s more reliable than a skin test.
Rooney says the Douglas County Health Department will follow up with individuals to let them know their results.
And then, in another 8-12 weeks, they will do follow up tests. He says he wouldn’t be surprised if no one tests positive.
"Three things that are important to remember is that TB is not easy to get, it is treatable and the health department is used to treating TB cases. We treat about 15 active cases a year so we do have experience in this. It’s something we are very used to. Obviously, there are people who will be disturbed by hearing about Tuberculosis but it’s not terribly uncommon. It’s less common in the United States than other parts of the world.”
Rooney says if someone has a latent TB infection, meaning there are no symptoms, they will receive the treatment to kill the disease so they don't have to worry about becoming ill in the future.
He says that can take several months, up to nine, depending on the medication that’s used.
Common symptoms of someone with an active TB infection include rapid weight loss, night sweats, fever and excessive coughing. More information is available at CDC.gov.