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Fairfax County, Va., public health
officials will offer free TB screening beginning August 3 to all 1,400 faculty,
staff, and students of Lee High School, in response to public concern regarding
recently diagnosed TB cases. Last spring, three Lee High students tested
positive for active TB. In June, the Fairfax County Health Department asked 400
students and 30 staff members who had been in close contact with the
TB-infected students to undergo TB testing. Approximately one week later, the
health department expanded testing to 60 additional possible contacts from
other Fairfax County schools. The screening identified an undisclosed number of
additional latent TB cases—a noncontagious form of the bacterial infection—that
could progress to active TB if left untreated. The department has tested close
to 300 people since the outbreak.
Typically, approximately 1 percent
of US-born residents would test positive for latent TB; approximately 5 percent
of the recently tested US-born Lee High group received a positive test result,
according to Fairfax County Health Director Gloria Addo-Ayensu. Spokesperson
Glen Barbour stated that incidence among the foreign-born Lee High group tested
for TB was comparable to the worldwide TB rate, which ranged from 5 to 33
percent. Jane Moore, director of TB control and prevention for the Virginia
Department of Health, reported that Virginia health departments investigate 5–10
TB cases in schools annually. One-third of Virginia’s TB cases in 2012 occurred
in Fairfax County. Northern Virginia, home to a diverse immigrant population
and many US residents who work internationally, accounted for more than half of
all Virginia TB cases.
The Fairfax County Health Department
scheduled the August 3 testing for all Lee High students, staff, and faculty to
alleviate community concern and to identify all TB cases before school
reconvened on September 3.
The Friends of AIDS Foundation is
dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and
empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV
virus.
To learn more about The Friends of
AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.
TOGETHER WE REMAIN STRONG!
