Kansas high school finds
27 positive tuberculosis cases
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[March 19, 2015]
(Reuters) - Twenty-seven people have
tested positive for tuberculosis at a suburban Kansas City high school
where a student was recently found to have an active case, Kansas state
and county health officials said on Wednesday.
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Health officials have tested more than 300 students and staff at
Olathe Northwest High School after possible exposure to tuberculosis
since the active case was reported two weeks ago, officials said.
Lougene Marsh, the director of the Johnson County Department of
Health and Environment, said the number of people with TB infection
does not exceed expectations.
"Early identification and treatment of TB infection is the key to
preventing progression to TB disease," Marsh said in a statement.
Those who tested positive will receive chest X-rays and antibiotics
paid for by the state and county to kill the bacteria and stop the
disease from developing, officials said. They were notified starting
on Monday.
People whose tests were negative for tuberculosis will be notified
by letter, they said. They will be retested on May 5 because it can
take up to eight weeks for the bacteria to show up in a test after
exposure.
People with latent tuberculosis infection are not contagious, do not
feel sick, and do not have symptoms, health officials said. Without
treatment, 5 percent to 10 percent develop TB disease, which is
infectious, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.
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Symptoms of the disease include fever, night sweats, cough and
weight loss.
(Reporting by David Bailey in Minneapolis; Editing by Eric Walsh)
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