St. Charles County Department of Community
Health & The Environment

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday, January 25, 2002

CONTACTS:
Gil Copley, Director-Community Health and Environment (636) 949-7400
Nancy Duncan, Deputy Director-Public Health

County Health Department Releases TB Test Results
Further Testing to Be Offered to Students and Staff of Daniel Boone Elementary

St. Charles County - The St. Charles County Department of Community Health and the Environment today released the results of Tuberculosis (TB) skin testing at the Daniel Boone Elementary School in the Francis-Howell School District. A person with active TB disease was reported to the Department on January 4, 2002. Subsequent case investigation revealed that the person was associated with Daniel Boone Elementary School, and further, that students in one-fifth grade class and two teachers at the school needed to be skin tested due to possible exposure to the active case. On January 22, 24 students and 2 adults were tested. The skin tests were read on January 24 and one-student was found to have a positive reaction to the test. The student appears to be well and not suffering from TB disease and will be medically evaluated.

Because of the one positive result, the Department of Community Health and the Environment will be offering testing to all students, faculty and staff at Daniel Boone Elementary School. The Francis-Howell School district and Daniel Boone School administration are cooperating fully in this effort and are informing parents and sending home the necessary consent forms. Testing will take place on Tuesday, January 29 and the results will be read on Thursday, January 31.

A positive skin test result indicates TB infection. A person with a positive test either now has, or has had, the organism that causes TB in their body and has developed antibodies to the disease. Those antibodies protect them from the TB bacterium. A person with active TB disease not only would have a positive response but also would be sick from the disease. A person who is sick with the disease may also be infectious, able to pass the disease on to others. Most people with positive skin tests do not have active disease.

After medical evaluation, a person who is only infected and who is without active disease may be put on a course of antibiotic treatment to destroy any TB organisms that may still be in the body. A person with active disease will be treated with multiple antibiotics for an extended period of time. The person with active disease is usually no longer infectious after 2 to 3 weeks of treatment.

TB is spread by coughing or sneezing and sometimes by laughing, singing or other activities that cause a forceful exhalation of breath. Repeated exposure to the infected person is usually necessary for another person to become infected and the germ must be inhaled. TB cannot be passed from an infected person by touching, sharing food or drink or from a contaminated surface.

Further information on TB can be found on the Department of Community Health and the Environment website at www.scchealth.org. Scroll to the bottom of the home page to the "Timely Topic" feature. Information is also available by calling 636-949-7400.

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