A person that regularly goes to Bunche Middle School in Atlanta has been found to be positive for tuberculosis. The findings have prompted the school to test their students and staff if anyone has contracted the disease, according to the health department of Fulton County.
Fulton Health Services received a notification regarding the suspected tuberculosis case during the week of Feb. 23. However, tests conducted at the time to detect active tuberculosis came back negative.
Tests that were once again carried out last Friday, however, confirmed that the person in question indeed had tuberculosis. The parents of the school's students received a letter regarding the situation on Tuesday, according to Fulton Health Services.
Officials of the school and Fulton Health Services will be holding an information session, which will include the students, their parents and the employees of Bunche Middle School. Free tests for tuberculosis are also being planned, and the results will be released after two days from when they are carried out.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), tuberculosis is contracted through bacterium that usually attacks the victim's lungs. Tuberculosis can be spread through the air but not by being in contact with other people such as through sharing drinks and food, kissing or shaking hands.
Tuberculosis spreads through the bloodstream and lymph nodes to any organ in the human body including the brain, kidneys or spine, but the lungs are the most common target. Symptoms include weight loss, weakness, fever, coughing, night sweats and chest pain.
People that get exposed to tuberculosis may never show any symptoms that they have the disease because it is possible for the bacteria to live inactively within a human body. However, if the immune system of the person weakens, such as through old age or by contracting HIV, the tuberculosis bacteria could take on their active state, possibly causing death in the tissue of the organs that they attack.
Another school in Atlanta, Homewood High School in Jefferson County, also reported a case of tuberculosis in one of its students.
While the condition of the student is treatable, a letter has already been sent out to students and employees of the school.
The health department of Jefferson County, similar to what the health department of Fulton County will do in Bunche Middle School, will carry out a test for all students and employees of Homewood High School.
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