27 more test positive for TB at Olathe high school

Twenty-eight tuberculosis cases have been detected at an eastern Kansas high school after widespread screening, state and county health officials announced Wednesday.

More than 300 Olathe Northwest High School students and staff members were tested after coming into contact with an infected student. The testing revealed 27 new cases of TB that hadn’t progressed to the contagious stage, the Johnson County Health Department said in a news release.

Officials began calling the people who test positive on Monday, while those with no sign of infection will receive letters, the release said.

“The number of individuals with TB infection does not exceed what we would anticipate in this setting,” Lougene Marsh, director of the Johnson County Department of Health and Environment, said in a written statement. “Of course, we had hoped we wouldn’t find any additional TB cases, but we knew this was a possibility. That’s why we took such thorough steps to test everyone who might have been in close contact with the first confirmed case of TB disease.”

Tuberculosis, which is treated with antibiotics but can be fatal if left untreated, can be spread by coughing and sneezing. Symptoms include a bad cough for three weeks or longer, chest pain, weakness or fatigue, and coughing up blood.

The release said another round of blood tests will be provided May 5 for people who were identified as exposed to TB during the spring semester. It can take up to eight weeks for TB to show up positive in a TB test, the health officials said.

This story was originally published March 18, 2015 at 12:06 PM with the headline "27 more test positive for TB at Olathe high school."