Student with TB released from hospital

A Coeur d’Alene High School student was released from a hospital this week, more than two months after a diagnosis of active tuberculosis forced the testing of 1,580 students, faculty and staff, Kootenai Medical Center officials said Thursday.

A second mass test scheduled for next week likely will reveal any reactions from exposure to the unidentified student, who probably contracted the disease outside the country, Panhandle Health District officials said. Despite a few worried moments, teens, parents and health officials said they’re taking the scare in stride.

“Yeah, I was tripping,” said Jake Williams, 17, who was one of 19 people who posted a positive reaction to initial tuberculin skin tests conducted in October.

Williams relaxed after he was sent for a hospital chest X-ray, which revealed that the high school junior harbored no infection.

None of the 19 who showed a positive reaction to the early test has developed TB symptoms or active cases of the bacterial disease that attacks the lungs, said Susan Cuff, health district spokeswoman.

Positive reactions could have been the result of many factors, including previous TB exposure, vaccination or a testing error, she added.

However, because tuberculosis is a slow-growing disease, tuberculin skin tests set for Monday and Tuesday are more likely to reveal any reactions caused by exposure to the infected student, who last attended classes in mid-October.

“We would expect to see if there are individuals who have a true reaction to this,” Cuff said.

So far, none of the student’s family members has developed symptoms of the disease, Cuff said.

Citing privacy rules, health officials have withheld most information about the student, including gender, age and whether he or she was a resident or a visitor in the country where the disease was contracted.

Many high school students, parents, faculty and staff said they didn’t know the identity of the student. Some expressed worry about the enforced secrecy.

“It would be nice to know if he was in your class,” said Carly Palmer, 17, a junior.

Concerns that the student was infected with a drug-resistant form of the disease – because of the prolonged hospital stay – are unfounded, said Marty Fallon, infection control director at Kootenai Medical Center.

“It’s very treatable,” she said.

TB is contagious and is spread through the air when an infected person coughs, sneezes, laughs or sings.

Evidence of exposure to TB doesn’t mean a person will develop the disease, Cuff emphasized.

Most infected people can fight off the bacteria, which remain latent in the body. It is possible to develop TB later in life.

Treatment typically requires six months of antibiotics.

TB is rare in Idaho, which has one of the lowest rates in the nation for the disease, according to figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About a dozen cases a year are reported statewide; only about two cases are reported annually in the Panhandle Health District.

The schoolwide tests were recommended by Dr. Christine Hahn, state epidemiologist.

The test consists of injections of a small amount of a sterile, noninfectious tuberculin solution just under the skin. Because the bacteria are not live, there is no chance of sparking an outbreak with the test, said Mary Petty, the health district’s TB coordinator.

A few dozen parents and others attended a town meeting or called the health district with questions about the process, Petty added.

Overall, school and health officials drew praise for their handling of the incident.

“As a parent, I’m very confident with what has gone on,” said Jan Feely, whose 16-year-old daughter was among those tested.

“Everybody who took the test, it was like no big deal.”

Most students weren’t especially worried about the prospect of another test next week.

“They did a really good job of explaining it to us so everyone wasn’t freaking out,” said 16-year-old sophomore Kelly Vannett.