TB tests at Stark school
Students, teachers, staff at Jackson Middle School to be screened after 1 pupil diagnosed with disease
By Bob Downing
Beacon Journal staff writer
The Stark County Health Department will conduct tuberculosis skin tests today at Jackson Middle School after it was confirmed last week that one student has the disease.
About 1,200 students and perhaps 200 teachers and staff at the school will be tested, Stark County Health Commissioner William Franks said Monday.
The Health Department will return on Thursday to analyze the test results, he said.
Health officials do not expect to find any other cases at the middle school in the Jackson Local School District and no other schools are to be tested, he said.
A boy at the middle school was confirmed as having the disease on Friday.
The student is doing well and is getting medical treatment at home, Franks said.
The testing could have been limited to only those who had come into close contact with the student, but health officials opted to test the entire student body, faculty and staff to play it safe, he said
It is not clear how the student became infected, he said.
Tuberculosis is an airborne disease spread through everyday contact with an infected person.
The Jackson Township case is the first in a youngster under age 14 in about 10 years, Franks said.
Ohio typically gets 10 to 20 cases of tuberculosis in children a year, he said.
Last year, Stark County had five cases of tuberculosis, all in adults, he said.
The Health Department has posted information about tuberculosis on its Web site at www.starkhealth.org.
Students, teachers, staff at Jackson Middle School to be screened after 1 pupil diagnosed with disease
By Bob Downing
Beacon Journal staff writer
The Stark County Health Department will conduct tuberculosis skin tests today at Jackson Middle School after it was confirmed last week that one student has the disease.
About 1,200 students and perhaps 200 teachers and staff at the school will be tested, Stark County Health Commissioner William Franks said Monday.
The Health Department will return on Thursday to analyze the test results, he said.
Health officials do not expect to find any other cases at the middle school in the Jackson Local School District and no other schools are to be tested, he said.
A boy at the middle school was confirmed as having the disease on Friday.
The student is doing well and is getting medical treatment at home, Franks said.
The testing could have been limited to only those who had come into close contact with the student, but health officials opted to test the entire student body, faculty and staff to play it safe, he said
It is not clear how the student became infected, he said.
Tuberculosis is an airborne disease spread through everyday contact with an infected person.
The Jackson Township case is the first in a youngster under age 14 in about 10 years, Franks said.
Ohio typically gets 10 to 20 cases of tuberculosis in children a year, he said.
Last year, Stark County had five cases of tuberculosis, all in adults, he said.
The Health Department has posted information about tuberculosis on its Web site at www.starkhealth.org.