Tuberculosis case confirmed in student at SC school
A suspected case of tuberculosis, or TB, involving a student at Castle Heights Middle School in Rock Hill has been confirmed, school officials said.
Leaders at Castle Heights warned parents in a letter on Dec. 23 that a student might have tuberculosis.
Laboratory tests have now confirmed the case. Castle Heights Principal John Kirell said, in the letter to parents last week, that the suspected case involved an eighth-grade student.
The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control is investigating, according to a second letter sent to parents Thursday.
Now that lab results have been confirmed, state health officials will conduct what is called a contact investigation, according to the letter.
That investigation will include evaluating the school layout and routine activities of the student involved to determine the level of risk for other people in classrooms, lunchrooms and other areas of the building.
Based on the results, students and staff who may have been exposed will be put into groups based on their level of risk, said Mychal Frost, director of communications for Rock Hill schools. People who have had close contact with the student and considered at the greatest risk for exposure will receive recommendations to be tested for TB first.
Testing everyone in a school is rarely recommended, according to DHEC. TB testing is done through a blood test or by a tuberculin skin test, according to the letter. Some cases may require a chest x-ray.
A positive test indicates the person has been infected by the tuberculosis germ, but a person cannot spread the germ unless they show symptoms of the disease, the letter states. These can include a cough lasting three weeks or longer, chest pain and coughing up blood.
Tuberculosis is a bacterial infection that normally attacks the lungs, but it can spread to other organs, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. The disease can be treated by antibiotics, according to DHEC, but it can be fatal if not treated properly.
While a vaccine exists, it is not used widely in the U.S. and is only used in cases of high exposure to the disease, according to the CDC. TB testing is not required for students and while state employees have to have a TB skin test when they are hired, no continued testing is mandated by law, Frost said.
Tuberculosis can spread from person to person through the air by methods such as coughing, singing and speaking when an infected person has symptoms, according to the CDC.
Frost said schools officials do not know where or how the student may have been exposed to the disease.
Five percent to 10 percent of people who have become infected with the tuberculosis germ develop the disease, according to DHEC.
DHEC recommends that anyone with symptoms seek medical care immediately and tell their physican they may have been exposed.
Frost said the school district will follow the recommendations of health officials.
“We are educators, not doctors,” he said. “We have continued to manage the process and work with DHEC to inform families when the time is appropriate for each situation.”
More information on testing recommendations and plans will be communicated to parents in a meeting at the middle school on Jan. 5.
Parents with questions or concerns are asked to call the DHEC Careline at 800-868-0404. Staff are available through Friday, Dec. 30, 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. to answer questions.
TB Information
- 9,557 TB cases were reported in the U.S. in 2015, a rate of three cases per 100,000 people
- 10.4 million people worldwide had TB disease in 2015 and there were 1.8 million TB-related deaths worldwide
- One third of the world’s population is infected with TB
Information compiled from the CDC.
For more information on TB, please visit the CDC TB website at www.cdc.gov/tb/ and DHEC’s TB web site.
This story was originally published December 30, 2016 at 2:40 PM with the headline "Tuberculosis case confirmed in student at SC school."