Here’s a little more about TB from the Health Department…

It’s caused by breathing TB germs into the lungs.

The most common way to become infected is by spending a lot of time with a person who has active TB.

School age children rarely become infected.

It takes several months from the time of exposure to get sick and not everyone who comes in contact with the germ gets the disease.

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Tuberculosis Case at Arnold
11/16/09 - 09:39 PM
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Schools across the panhandle have been concerned about the swine flu; now one Bay District School has another serious health scare. 

A person at Arnold High School in Panama City Beach has an active case of tuberculosis.  The Health Department can’t release who this person is or whether they are a student or employee.

The Health Department says they found out about the disease through a suspicious cat scan reported late last week.

Now, they are taking steps to figure out who all came in contact with the t-b germ.

“I want to stay home. I don’t want to go to school because I don’t want to catch a disease that could kill me,” said Arnold High Student Jesse Lawhorn.

“I’m not that worried about it, so I wouldn’t run out and get tested right now,” said RaShelle Davis, also an Arnold High Student.

Students say they’re confused about what tuberculosis is, if they have been exposed, and if they need to be tested.

“We didn’t even know it was tuberculosis they just said we had to sign this paper and fill it out,” said Lawhorn.  He says administrators told them there was a health scare, but nothing specific about the disease or its risks.

However, Bay District Schools did send home a letter to parents explaining the basics about the disease, along with a questionnaire for the parents to fill out about their student’s activities and medical history.  The Health Department Director says it would be difficult and unnecessary to test all 1,300 students.

“We do really want to be careful in terms of investigating this and getting our questionnaires back.  If you try to test the entire school, it would be very likely you would get a lot of false positives,” said Dr. Dennis Cookro.

But some Arnold High parents don’t want to take the risk.

“I probably would take him to his doctor to be tested just to be on the safe side,” said Arnold High parent, Terri Lawhorn.

They are strongly urging everyone at Arnold High to fill out the questionnaire so they can get a better idea who the person came in contact with.

Skin tests will begin the week after Thanksgiving and will be administered through the Bay County Health Department.  The health department says they will offer evaluation and treatment through their program for anyone who has a positive TB skin test at no cost to the school or family.

If you prefer to be tested through your healthcare provider, you are asked to request a “Mantoux” test.

For more information, contact the Bay County Health Department TB program at 872-4720, ext. 1300.

Dr. Cookro says there will be an informational meeting for parents with questions on Thursday at 6:00 p.m. in the Arnold High School media center.

Click here to learn more about tuberculosis from Web MD.