Tuberculosis scare in Fort Bend County continues, more to be tested

More than a dozen students and faculty members at Kempner High School are now being asked to get tested for tuberculosis after Fort Bend County officials confirmed an active case of the disease was reported at the school earlier this week.

Medical professionals will be on the school's campus later this week to administer those tests for free, according to Kaye Reynolds, Deputy Director at the Fort Bend County Health and Human Services Department.

Reynolds said TB is not easily spread, but it is a notifiable condition in the state, meaning health professionals and labs are required to report any active TB diagnoses to their local or regional health department within one day.

Investigations typically include testing for those that were in close vicinity to anyone who's been diagnosed with active tuberculosis. These investigation could then expand the circle of testing further to family, friends and coworkers until everyone has been cleared.

Fort Bend ISD officials say TB is an airborne disease that can be spread in confined areas if someone who has the disease coughs or sneezes.

A sign outside of Kempner High School indicates students are in STARR testing May 7-9.

However, doctors say TB is very treatable as long as infections are caught early on.

"It's tricky with TB because you can have a latent infection. Your body can get the bacteria or the infection and if your system is active, it takes care of it and you won't get any symptoms. Weeks, months, years later you could take a big hit and that bacteria is now ready to thrive, then you could get symptoms at that time," pediatrician Dr. Shereen Alikhan said.

Alikhan said some of the most common symptoms of TB are coughing that lasts more than two to three weeks, night sweats, fever, weight loss and sometimes if the infection has progressed far enough, an infected person could cough up blood.

Yaneth Calderon, a spokesperson with Fort Bend County's DHH, said the investigation at Kempner High School is relatively routine.

According to Calderon, in June 2017, more than 600 students and staff members at George Bush High School were screened for the disease. In February 2017, 30 individuals were screened at Clements High School.