Roughly 300 students and staff at Walton High School will be tested for tuberculosis this week, according to Cobb & Douglas Public Health spokeswoman Valerie Crow.
Crow said CDPH is responding conservatively to a possible exposure that occurred at the school, and will be administering a mandatory Tuberculin Skin Test (TST) to the individuals who may have been exposed to TB germs.
“Even though the risk is very minimal, Cobb & Douglas Public Health (CDPH) is offering every precaution as recommended by the State of Georgia TB Guidelines,” Crow wrote in a Monday email to the MDJ.
Tests will be administered at the school Tuesday, and CDPH officials will return to Walton Thursday to measure the reactions to the test. If identified students and staff are not tested Tuesday, Crow said they will be required to access a test from their private healthcare provider.
“They will be responsible to provide a written report on physician’s office letterhead verifying the test was completed, with the date, and test result before they will be permitted to return to school,” Crow wrote.
A positive test, Crow said, means someone has been exposed to TB. A chest x-ray will be ordered for anyone who tests positive to determine if the disease is active, and they need treatment, or if they will be offered preventative medication.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, the rate of TB in the United States was 2.9 per 100,000 people in 2023, up from 2.5 per 100,000 in 2022.
For more information about TB exposure, visit www.cdc.gov/tb/exposure
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