Fifty students and faculty members tested positive for exposure to tuberculosis during a public health screening last week at Lilburn Middle School.
The testing was performed by the East Metro Health District after two cases of the disease were reported among sixth graders. Lilburn Middle’s principal, Gene Taylor, sent a letter home encouraging parents to allow their kids to get tested as a preventive measure.
Nearly 360 people were tested on Friday and received their results on Monday.
On Tuesday, Suleima Salgado, spokeswoman for the East Metro Health District, said the students and teachers who tested positive have been referred for follow-up exams. It is “unlikely” that all of them will develop TB, she added.
“Fifty came back positive when we read their skin [test] results,” Salgado said. “That doesn’t mean that they have TB. It means that they could have been exposed to TB at some point and time in their lives.’’
TB is transmitted through the air to others nearby when an infected person coughs, speaks or sings. Not everyone with TB, however, becomes sick or exhibits symptoms. Those with active cases can seek medical assistance and recover, health officials say.
Salgado said 97 more Lilburn Middle students and teachers need to be tested. Health officials are working to contact parents to get permission to administer the screening.
The first round of screening at Lilburn Middle in February came after a student tested positive for TB and was treated for it. A second student who was part of the initial test group also tested positive. That student had noninfectious TB. Community residents who interacted with both students also were encouraged to get tested, Salgado said.
The two students have since returned to classes at Lilburn Middle. “They are back in school and they are still not infectious,” Salgado said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported a decline in TB cases nationally in 2009. The highest rates of the disease were found among minorities and people who are foreign-born. Cases of TB occur almost annually in some metro Atlanta schools with international populations. In October 2009, about 200 Norcross High students were tested for exposure to TB after a case was found at the school.
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