Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

TB test shows more positive reactions

Sixteen people at Coeur d’Alene High School posted positive reactions to a second campuswide tuberculosis test conducted last week, a Panhandle Health District official said Wednesday.

That brings to more than 30 the number of students, faculty and staff who indicated possible TB exposure, perhaps through a student who spent more than two months in a local hospital after being diagnosed with an active case of the bacterial disease. But health officials said that number is far less than would be indicated in a widespread outbreak, and they’re cautiously optimistic the worst of the scare is over.

“Nobody yet has developed TB symptoms or the disease,” said Susan Cuff, spokeswoman for the health district. “There are no guarantees. Somebody who is exposed to TB could develop TB in the next 50 to 60 years. But we’ve had just the one case. It’s giving us hope that there’s just that one out there.”

An unidentified student was released from Kootenai Medical Center two weeks ago after more than two months of antibiotic and other treatment for TB.

Health officials have refused to release information – including gender, age and hometown – about the student, who they believe contracted the disease in another country. Cuff said patient privacy rules prohibit officials from saying whether the student was a resident of the country or a visitor.

TB is a contagious bacterial infection that attacks the lungs. Because it grows slowly, officials were worried that the second screening might reveal a high number of people who could have been exposed when the student became ill in October.

The first screening was held shortly after the student was diagnosed. Of about 1,580 people tested then, 19 posted positive reactions to that test and were sent for further medical evaluation. So far, no members of the student’s family or other close contacts have developed symptoms or the disease, Cuff said.

People who posted positive results the first time were asked not to be tested again, Cuff said. But four of them participated anyway in the second session held last week. Of those four, two showed negative reactions, and two turned up positive.

Overall, then, the second screening revealed 14 new positive reactions to the skin tests. Because the first test was used as a baseline to measure the possible extent of TB exposure on campus, the results could indicate that those who posted positive results last week had been exposed to the ill student. Or they could mean nothing, Cuff said.

“From what I’m told by experts here, if you did a random sample of people on the street, 2 to 3 percent would show a positive reaction to the test,” she said. “We’re well below that.”

Some 1,360 people took the second test, about 220 fewer than before. Cuff said some students, faculty and staff may not have wanted to be pricked again with needles, or they may have been unconcerned about the outcome. Health officials still had enough of a schoolwide sample to monitor a possible TB outbreak, she said.

A positive reaction to the screening is not an indication that a person will develop TB, Cuff emphasized. Several factors can influence the result, including previous TB vaccination, previous exposure or problems with the test or the subject.

People who showed positive reactions to the screening were referred to medical care for further evaluation, including chest X-rays and blood tests. But TB is a disease that can be hard to diagnose until it is active, Cuff said.

Parents, students and staff took the second test in stride, said Coeur d’Alene High School Principal Steve Casey, who has heard from no parents since the first testing session.

“I think everyone’s pretty OK with it,” he said. “There’s always apprehension of the unknown, but we have not had any negatives. If there was anything to worry about, they’d have let me know.”

Anyone who develops symptoms of TB – a bad cough, chest pain, weakness or fatigue, coughing up blood or phlegm from deep inside the lungs – should contact the health district or a doctor.

But Cuff said fears of an outbreak that would increase Idaho’s annual average of a dozen TB cases are likely unfounded.

“This is simply a result of humans living together on the planet,” she said. “The planet has germs.”