Nearly 50 Indiana students test positive for tuberculosis

SELLERSBURG – Nearly 50 Southern Indiana students exposed to a classmate with a confirmed case of tuberculosis have tested positive for the disease in preliminary tests, health officials said.

Clark County Health Department administrator Mike Meyer said Friday that the 48 positive skin tests for the bacterial disease don’t mean those students have diagnosed TB cases. He said the students at Rock Creek Community Academy in Sellersburg will undergo chest X-rays and possibly other tests to determine whether they indeed have the illness.

Because about 300 Rock Creek students have not been tested, another round of skin testing will be held Monday, with those results expected Wednesday, Meyer said.

Rock Creek Community Academy Principal Sara Hauselman said officials at the school, a few miles north of Louisville, Ky., are working with the health department. Because tuberculosis is so uncommon in the United States, they’re trying to figure out the best course of action.

“Since this is something that’s not very common, they’re not extremely informed about everything,” she told the News and Tribune. “That’s what’s been stressful.”

Tuberculosis bacteria typically attack the lungs but also can affect the kidneys and brain. TB can be deadly if left untreated. The bacteria typically are transmitted through coughs and sneezes.

Dr. Paul Schulz with Norton Hospital in Louisville told WAVE-TV the students who have tested positive for the bacteria could have latent tuberculosis, in which a person isn’t ill or contagious but eventually could develop TB.

“In general, the recommendation is to treat anybody with latent tuberculosis infection so they don’t develop an active infection later on in life,” he said.

Meyer said students who had negative tests likely will need another round of testing before school starts July 30 because tuberculosis has a long incubation period.

Tom Harris, health officer at the Floyd County Health Department, said the U.S. has only about 10,000 new confirmed cases of tuberculosis each year. He said two-thirds of those crossed the country’s borders and didn’t originate here.

About 400 to 500 of those cases are fatal, Harris said.