Based on a comprehensive screening test, at least 27 people have been infected with tuberculosis in a Kansas high school.
When one student in Northwest High School was infected with active tuberculosis, it didn't take long before the health officials of the county and state stepped in and tested those who came into contact with the person. In a large screening test, around 300 people, including staff members and students, were examined for the bacterium.
Twenty-seven of them were confirmed positive of the infection.
However, according to the report, these people have yet to show symptoms, and thus they still remain to be in the non-contagious stage. In a statement released by the health department director Lougene Marsh, they have taken all the steps necessary to ensure they can properly and accurately identify other possible cases in the school. Although they didn't want to encounter more cases, such is a possibility in a very public setting like a school. Nevertheless, the outcome was lower than what they expected.
The department is still trying to figure out how the first infected person obtained the disease and how the bacterium spread in the campus. However, based on the disease's pathology, an infected person may spread it once the symptoms such as fever and cough show.
The health officials will be repeating the test during the first week of May for the rest who have not yet tested positive of the disease. It takes up to 10 weeks before the bacterium can appear positive in a test. Meanwhile, those who tested positive will be observed in case their symptoms appear and make them infectious. They have already received vouchers for free X-rays. They are also expected to take antibiotics to kill the bacterium and will do so even if the X-ray results say they are clear. So far, these 27 people are entitled to go back to school after spring break as long as they don't show symptoms.
