9 More Test Positive For TB At Kansas high school

KHI photo via Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria, the cause of TB, as seen in a scanning electron micrograph. NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES — KHI photo via Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria, the cause of TB, as seen in a scanning electron micrograph.
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES

By DAN MARGOLIES

Health authorities say another nine people have tested positive for tuberculosis after 218 individuals were tested for the infection at Olathe Northwest High School on May 5.

All 218 had been tested previously but were retested due to their potential exposure during the second semester, the authorities said. No additional rounds of testing are planned.

A student came down with the disease in March. More than 300 people were tested shortly afterward and 27 tested positive. Another four tested positive in April.

Being infected isn’t the same as having the disease, whose symptoms include fever, night sweats, coughing and weight loss.

The infected individuals will get free chest x-rays and antibiotics to kill the TB bacteria.

Dan Margolies, editor for Heartland Health Monitor, a news collaboration focusing on health issues and their impact in Missouri and Kansas.