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Source: http://www.macon.com/197/story/399800.html
Another TB case reported in Houston
By Jake Jacobs - jjacobs@macon.com
WARNER ROBINS --
Parents of about 80 students at Perry Middle and Perry High schools are being urged to have their children tested for turberculosis after another individual was identified as having TB.
David Harvey, director of the 13-county North Central Health District, said Tuesday the case is a "community problem, not a school district problem."
Harvey said the individual was sick before school was dismissed for summer vacation and was diagnosed with tuberculosis during a routine screening for the disease. Harvey did not say whether the individual was a student or an adult.
Superintendent David Carpenter said parents were to be contacted by telephone Tuesday, and letters were mailed to them the same day.
Parents who receive the letter can get their child a skin test at the Houston County Health Department or Perry Middle at no charge, Carpenter said.
Last month, a student at Thomson Middle School in Centerville also was diagnosed with tuberculosis. Parents of those suspected of being in close contact with the student also were advised to have their children take a skin test.
"This is a concern, not a panic or a crisis," Harvey said. "We are tracking all those who had contact with the individual."
The school system's detailed records have been beneficial in identifying those who have had prolonged contact with the individual, he added.
Carpenter said if parentsdo not receive a phone call or a letter, a skin test for their child is not necessary.
If parents decide to have a skin test performed it would cost $20, said Jennifer Jones, spokeswoman for the health district.
German Gonzalez, medical epidemiologist for the Georgia Department of Human Resources, said the latest case was the sixth one reported in the district this year. The district has a TB case rate of 3.8 per 100,000 population, he said, lower than the state case rate of five per 100,000.
The district recorded 31 cases in 2006 and 15 last year, said Kathleen Somers, TB coordinator for Health District V, Division of Public Health.
The North Central Health District covers Baldwin, Bibb, Crawford, Hancock, Houston, Jasper, Jones, Monroe, Peach, Putnam, Twiggs, Washington and Wilkinson counties.
To contact writer Jake Jacobs, call 923-6199, extension 305.
Another TB case reported in Houston
By Jake Jacobs - jjacobs@macon.com
WARNER ROBINS --
Parents of about 80 students at Perry Middle and Perry High schools are being urged to have their children tested for turberculosis after another individual was identified as having TB.
David Harvey, director of the 13-county North Central Health District, said Tuesday the case is a "community problem, not a school district problem."
Harvey said the individual was sick before school was dismissed for summer vacation and was diagnosed with tuberculosis during a routine screening for the disease. Harvey did not say whether the individual was a student or an adult.
Superintendent David Carpenter said parents were to be contacted by telephone Tuesday, and letters were mailed to them the same day.
Parents who receive the letter can get their child a skin test at the Houston County Health Department or Perry Middle at no charge, Carpenter said.
Last month, a student at Thomson Middle School in Centerville also was diagnosed with tuberculosis. Parents of those suspected of being in close contact with the student also were advised to have their children take a skin test.
"This is a concern, not a panic or a crisis," Harvey said. "We are tracking all those who had contact with the individual."
The school system's detailed records have been beneficial in identifying those who have had prolonged contact with the individual, he added.
Carpenter said if parentsdo not receive a phone call or a letter, a skin test for their child is not necessary.
If parents decide to have a skin test performed it would cost $20, said Jennifer Jones, spokeswoman for the health district.
German Gonzalez, medical epidemiologist for the Georgia Department of Human Resources, said the latest case was the sixth one reported in the district this year. The district has a TB case rate of 3.8 per 100,000 population, he said, lower than the state case rate of five per 100,000.
The district recorded 31 cases in 2006 and 15 last year, said Kathleen Somers, TB coordinator for Health District V, Division of Public Health.
The North Central Health District covers Baldwin, Bibb, Crawford, Hancock, Houston, Jasper, Jones, Monroe, Peach, Putnam, Twiggs, Washington and Wilkinson counties.
To contact writer Jake Jacobs, call 923-6199, extension 305.