Officials from the Texas Department of State Health Services held a public meeting Wednesday night to reassure parents about their concerns over a tuberculosis outbreak at a North Texas high school.
Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, said up to 10 Ennis High School students have the infection.
Health officials assured the people who packed the standing-room-only meeting that tuberculosis is easily treatable with medication.
More than 800 people have been have been tested for exposure to tuberculosis after a teacher developed the infection in August. Students, staff members and anyone who has been in close contact with them have gotten a skin test.
Of the 836 people, 128 tested positive for exposure to tuberculosis. A positive skin test does not mean a person has tuberculosis or is contagious. Those who test positive have a 10 percent chance they will develop tuberculosis at some point in their lifetime.
Health officials will conduct chest X-rays on those who have tested positive to see if they have the bacterial infection. Those abnormal chest x-rays will undergo a third test.
Students who test positive on a skin test can get an X-ray at school inside the state's mobile X-ray truck.
Waxahachie school officials said they are warning their athletes about possible exposure to the infection. The school district said Waxahachie students will be warned to limit their time around Ennis students when the schools meet for an athletic event.
Parents voice frustration
Lavitria Goss said she is frustrated with how Ennis High and the state health department have handled the outbreak.
"I'm off work for a month without pay," she said. "Nobody has offered to help. Nobody has called and said anything. I'm frustrated."
Her two teenage children have tested positive and are confined to one room in the house. Goss, who wears a mask inside her home every day, has tested positive for exposure.
Her chest X-ray was normal, but her elderly mother has an active case of tuberculosis and her 6-month-old niece is hospitalized with complications from contracting tuberculosis.
Goss is trying to keep her home as germ-free as possible by cleaning constantly.
Her children will go back to school when they are no longer contagious but will receive antibiotic treatments for the next nine months.
Jeannine Ohrmundt, who does not have children at Ennis High School, said her family will get tested "just in case."
"I mean, we've been hearing about this for some time now," she said. "You feel concerned, and you're questioning if it was handled properly."
Tuberculosis is spread through prolonged, close contact.
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