Olathe Northwest High School (Photo : Twitter)
Several people tested tuberculosis positive at Olathe Northwest High School in Olathe, Kansas on March 17, Tuesday, noted the state health officials.
The testing started when a single case of tuberculosis was diagnosed earlier this month. Among the 304 students and staff members, according to The Kansas City Star, 27 people were positive of the said disease. The affected are now being treated accordingly.
New York Daily News reports that according to the director of the Johnson County Department of Health and Environment Lougene Marsh, the number of people who are infected was still relatively small. He added that the number does not exceed what they had anticipated in this particular setting.
Marsh said that they had hoped not to find any more TB cases in the state, but they knew that there is still a possibility, which is why they took the precaution to test everyone who had made or might have close contact to the first confirmed case of the disease, Huffington Post reported.
Those who are infected were notified immediately on Monday. The health department said that they will have to take more blood tests, chest x-rays, and will be given antibiotics in order to kill the bacteria. The treatment should last up to nine months.
Tuberculosis is an airborne disease spread through coughing, sneezing, and other times when the respiratory fluids from an infected person is transmitted through the air. However, this potentially fatal disease is curable.
The general symptoms of tuberculosis include fever, chills, night sweats, fatigue, and cough that is longer than three weeks.
"Early identification and treatment of TB infection is the key to preventing progression to TB disease," Marsh said.
According to Time, 42 people contracted the illness in Kansas in 2012.
