High School Student Tests Positive for Tuberculosis: Wheaton North Plans to Test Teens, Teachers
Posted on: Tuesday, 14 March 2006, 09:01 CST
By Grace Aduroja, Chicago Tribune
Mar. 14--A Wheaton North High School student diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis will miss at least three weeks of classes, and the school will test dozens of students and teachers for the disease, school officials said Monday.
Letters were sent last week notifying parents that a student has the airborne illness, which can cause fever, night sweats, loss of appetite, weight loss and a cough that lasts more than three weeks.
Skin testing will be offered Monday to about 300 people who came in close contact with the infected student. Parents of students who had contact with the student in class, at lunch or on the bus received an additional letter requesting permission for testing at school.
School officials said the ill student would not return to class until receiving a negative result for the disease in three consecutive weekly tests. Administrators declined to provide additional details about the student or the student's condition.
Tuberculosis is treated with antibiotics and is completely curable, said DuPage County Health Department spokesman Dave Hass.
"Normally during the year, we handle about 45 cases" of the illness, Hass said.
The disease has an incubation period from two weeks to 80 years, health officials said, and someone carrying the tuberculosis germ may never experience symptoms or acquire the disease.
The DuPage County Health Department offers $12 tuberculosis testing for residents. The department urges screening for those who believe they were in contact with the student but were not identified by the school.
gaduroja@tribune.com
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Source: Chicago Tribune
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