TB cases reported at Fairfax Co. school
Thursday - 6/20/2013, 4:13pm ET
WASHINGTON - The Fairfax County Health Department is expected to announce an outbreak of tuberculosis during an afternoon press conference Thursday.

The Washington Post reports that the county is investigating two confirmed cases of the disease at Lee High School. The school sent letters home to the families of 400 staff and students this week alerting them that the school will offer a free screening.

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Two cases were discovered this month at the high school in Springfield, following an initial case that dates back to December. The Health Department investigation may determine if there are additional cases among students and staff.

Principal Abe Jeffers said the tuberculosis tests would be available in the school gym this and next week.

On Monday, the school system sent out a letter to 1,900 families in the Lee High community about the three confirmed cases of tuberculosis.

This is going to get me out of class for at least a week.

Just go our letter requiring us to provide proof of dT immunization - now I know y

I thought proof of immunization was a requirement BEFORE attendance? Maybe I'm confusing students with workers.

This is what happened in SC resulting in MANY resignations:


The SC Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) today released its latest update to the ongoing investigation of a tuberculosis outbreak at a primary school in Greenwood County. It appears that two adults and nine children have been confirmed to be positive for the respiratory illness. The adults are infectious but the children are believed to not be contagious, according to the DHEC.

The site of the tuberculosis (TB) outbreak is in the upstate South Carolina community of Ninety Six. In March, the DHEC was notified by a private physician that an adult at the Ninety Six Primary School had active tuberculosis. As of today's press release, the department has skin tested 536 people, including 487 students. Positive tests were found in ten staff and 52 students. X-rays were taken for TB associated lung damage and one adult and nine students were found to have visible indications of TB.


Tuberculosis is a bacterial illness, for which there are treatments. Testing offered by the DHEC and drug treatments from the department are free to the patients. Active illness requires a course of drug treatment for six to nine months. For those patients with a latent TB infection, the length of treatment is shorter. Both testing and treatment of tuberculosis in children is more difficult than in adult patients, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

AP reported yesterday that patient zero, the first case of TB to be reported, is no longer cooperating with authorities. The patient has been quarantined at their home. The story also reports that several DHEC employees were terminated in May for failing to urgently follow up on the original report of TB in March.

Q: This is what happens when you have a school full of:

(a) immigrants
(b) undocumented aliens
(c) foreigners
(d) illegal citizens

TB spreads through the air when someone who is sick with
TB disease of the lungs or throat coughs, speaks, laughs,
sings or sneezes. Anyone near the sick person can breathe
TB germs into their lungs and get infected, including those
who received BCG, or TB vaccine. BCG does not offer complete
protection against developing TB disease.

Know TB Symptoms
• Cough lasting more than 2 weeks or bloody cough
• Pain in chest
• Loss of appetite & weight loss
• Fever/chills
• Night Sweats

TB Is Curable
Active TB disease is serious, but it is curable if all medications
prescribed by a physician are taken properly. See a doctor if
you have TB symptoms.
Treatment is FREE
The Fairfax County Health Department offers free TB
treatment to residents of Fairfax County, Falls Church and the
City of Fairfax. Contact the Health Department.
If you have TB symptoms,
see a doctor.

So I already have dormant TB and did the lung x-rays and skin test last year, will this affect me?

"TB Is Curable"

There are drug-resistant forms of TB that are "costly, difficult and at times, nearly impossible to treat."
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/06/12/182903139/faces-of-drug-resistant-tb


Drug-resistant TB is spreading "at an alarming rate" in Europe:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/13/us-tuberculosis-europe-idUSTRE78C7VD20110913


TB, once the leading cause of death in the United States, appeared to be receding into history by the latter part of the 20th century.

Thanks to improved social and economic conditions and the development of effective drugs, TB case counts had fallen off so dramatically by the 1980s that U.S. experts believed TB could be virtually eliminated from the United States by the year 2010.

Then we were hit by an unexpected resurgence of TB that occurred in the mid 1980s and early 1990s.

The reversal of the longstanding downward trend in TB was fueled by several converging factors:
- the onset of the HIV/AIDS epidemic,
- increases in TB cases among foreign-born persons,
- emergence of drug-resistant TB strains that defy traditional treatments

At the current rates of TB incidence, it is estimated that it will take at least 70 years to reach the U.S. elimination goal once thought to be within reach in the 1980s.

Be afraid.

Be very afraid.

Mother Nature is a bitch.

Olde Farte, II Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I thought proof of immunization was a requirement
> BEFORE attendance? Maybe I'm confusing students
> with workers.

They are already requiring it 6/18/13 for next year for the 6th grade for my son. I wondered why the panic - my letter even had "3rd notice" written in red ink by hand.

Virginia Immunization Requirement for Tdap Vaccine

Parent or Guardian of a Current Fifth Grader:

Effective July 1, 2006, all students in Virginia must receive a booster dose of Tdap vaccine prior to entering sixth grade, if at least five years have passed since the last dose of tetanus toxoid-containing vaccine (DTP, DTaP, DT, or Td).

If your child is 11 years old, he or she must get the Tdap immunization and provide documentation to the school.
If your child is still 10 years old, he or she may receive the Tdap vaccine, Boostrix, which is approved for 10 years old, or you may wait until the 11th birthday to receive the vaccine approved for 11-year-olds.
If your child’s 11th birthday is after the first day of school, your child must have a medical exemption from the doctor stating when he or she will receive the Tdap immunization in order to attend school.
Please check your child’s immunization records carefully. If your child is required to have a Tdap booster, we ask that your child receive it, and that you provide documentation to the school prior to June 18, 2013. This documentation can be a copy of your child’s immunization record, or a note from your physician listing the date of his or her most recent Tdap booster shot.

The Tdap booster can be obtained from your child’s physician. Immunizations required for school are also available at the Fairfax County Health Department at no charge. Clinic locations and walk-in hours are
listed on the back of this letter and are available online at http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/hd/hdclinicsite.htm. Students receiving immunizations at the Health Department must be accompanied by an adult, and students should bring their immunization records to the Health Department clinic with them.

It is most important that you attend to this matter soon. Sixth graders cannot begin school in the fall without documentation of having had the Tdap booster or having had a tetanus-containing vaccine within the past five years.

Please contact the school public health nurse Meghan Page at 703-481-4072 if you have any questions. Thank you for your cooperation and please disregard this notice if you have already provided this information to the school office.

TB and dT or Tdap have nothing to do with each other. dT and Tdap are vaccinations against tetanus, diphtheria or tetanus, diphtheria and whooping cough. There is no actual vaccine against TB. People in countries where there is a lot of TB get a vaccine called BCG, but it doesn't really work all that well as mentioned above.

FCPS require TB screening at entry to kindergarten and for students new to the system, but not after that. Screening can either be through a questionnarie, a blood test or a TB skin test. People who are at high risk based on the questionnaire have to get either the blood test or a TB skin test.

Was he Indian? is he Hispanic? is he from Africa?

The guy is from Iran

I hate to say this, but this isn't the first time this has happened in the county. TB sucks, and yes there are concerns about drug resistant varieties. Just get tested if you were in those areas.

Paul Rand Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Q: This is what happens when you have a school
> full of:
>
> (a) immigrants
> (b) undocumented aliens
> (c) foreigners
> (d) illegal citizens


a,b,c and d.

Welcome to the new third world. And people will call you a racist for telling the truth.

Importing diseases that were eliminated in the US through painstaking hard work and US taxpayer dollars is our strength. Diversity of horrible diseases is our strenth. In conclusion, enjoy the bloody cough and think about how empty your life would be in a pleasant, functioning, 1st-world country.

The school has nearly 1800 students and probably 100 staff members.

Three people are infected.

What is the logic in randomly testing 400?

why only 400? Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The school has nearly 1800 students and probably
> 100 staff members.
>
> Three people are infected.
>
> What is the logic in randomly testing 400?

Not to mention exposure to parents and then to the parent's co-workers.

why only 400? Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> What is the logic in randomly testing 400?

Not sure that's random - probably based on classes/lunches/etc.

The school should have disclosed that there was an outbreak back in December.

Parents are advised of headlice--why not TB? It is FAR more serious--even deadly.

I'm not asking them to pay for the testing but I deserve to know what the hell is going on.

I am immune, suckerzzzzz

another black eye Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> a,b,c and d.
>
> Welcome to the new third world. And people will
> call you a racist for telling the truth.

Foreign-born persons are more likely to travel, or have family who travel, to their country of origin where the disease is much more prevalent. It's not racist, it's actually quite factual. I'm surprised this doesn't happen more often.

the problem is all you dumb soccer moms who think a shot is going to give your kids autism. you are fucking insane and should be prosecuted for child endangerment.

my sister in law refused to have her kid done for mmr, so i took him for a walk and the doc did the deed. kid safe.


use your brains people.

the probelm is american parents Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> the problem is all you dumb soccer moms who think
> a shot is going to give your kids autism. you are
> fucking insane and should be prosecuted for child
> endangerment.
>
> my sister in law refused to have her kid done for
> mmr, so i took him for a walk and the doc did the
> deed. kid safe.
>
>
> use your brains people.


Use yours---there is no vaccine available for TB. I disagree with herd immunity (parents who refuse to vax b/c they count on their kids hanging out with kids who ARE vaccinated) but I find it hard to believe that an ethical health care provider would inject a child that is not yours with a vaccine...

I'm pissed Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The school should have disclosed that there was an
> outbreak back in December.
>
> Parents are advised of headlice--why not TB? It is
> FAR more serious--even deadly.
>
> I'm not asking them to pay for the testing but I
> deserve to know what the hell is going on.


That's an enormously good point!

Q: This is what happens when you have a school full of:

(a) immigrants
(b) undocumented aliens
(c) foreigners
(d) illegal citizens
(e) easily manipulated dipshits who think immunizations for their children are an evil government plot

The U S used to require health documents before you could set foot in this country. Now that is racist and bigoted so anyone with any kind of disease is more than welcome to come here and spread it around.

Tuberculosis (TB) Investigation Information
http://fairfaxcountyemergency.wordpress.com/2013/06/21/tuberculosis-tb-investigation-information/

ROFLMAO@the bigots who "know the truth" before even having all the facts

for the record, the two kids are related and white as rice

the fact that the kids are related is the reason why the County didnt raise a red flag

and as you noticed, aint been a huge TB plague going around this spring, so I dont see what the biggie is.

But no - lets read the info and get all scared and xenophobic over BS that has nothing to do with race at all (other than the sterotypes and imaginary world you have in yr head)

so lets recap, shall we?

1) illegal immigration has NOTHING to do with a cpl kids getting TB
2) the illness occured MONTHS AGO with no outbreak since then, so no reason to be all scar-d
3) SCHOOLS CLOSED LAST WEEK. Not really something a vast majority of familes have to worry about the next cpl weeks
4) wise idea to vaccinate, no matter what Nation you originally called home (out hear me, Confederates? LoLz)

CDC Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Tuberculosis (TB) Investigation Information
> http://fairfaxcountyemergency.wordpress.com/2013/0
> 6/21/tuberculosis-tb-investigation-information/


Tuberculosis (TB) Investigation Information

Posted at 1:45 p.m.

The Health Department, in cooperation with Fairfax County Public Schools, initiated a broad tuberculosis (TB) investigation at Robert E. Lee High School to identify people who may have had contact with three individuals at the school who have been diagnosed with active TB disease.

General Public

Members of the general public do not need to take action. Only those Robert E. Lee High School families that received a letter from the Health Department need to attend the special clinics at the school. If you did not receive a letter from the Health Department asking that you be tested, you do not need to come to the school.

Robert E. Lee High School Families

Although the Health Department’s June 17 letter stated that you should call the Springfield District Office to make an appointment for testing, the testing location changed. Instead, a special clinic was set up for Robert E. Lee High School families who received a letter from the Health Department asking that they be tested for TB. Families who received a letter from the Health Department should call 703-267-3511, TTY 711 to make an appointment. Families who have questions about the investigation or TB may also call for information.

Gordon Blvd Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> for the record, the two kids are related and white
> as rice
>
> the fact that the kids are related is the reason
> why the County didnt raise a red flag
>
> and as you noticed, aint been a huge TB plague
> going around this spring, so I dont see what the
> biggie is.
>
> But no - lets read the info and get all scared and
> xenophobic over BS that has nothing to do with
> race at all (other than the sterotypes and
> imaginary world you have in yr head)


Assuming loudmouth Gordo is accurate--gotta wonder how the hell he would know the race of the kids....HOW THE HELL DOES THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT KNOW WHO IS AT RISK OF EXPOSURE???????

They narrow it down to 400 out of 1900.......to be tested.

ANYONE these kids passed in the hallway are at risk. They could have sneezed, coughed, etc on ANYONE.

90 cases in a county of 1.1 million and 3 are in one high school!!

I'm sure there is no relationship. Ask GORDO, he knows everything and knows how to keep our kids safe.

facepalm Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> the probelm is american parents Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > the problem is all you dumb soccer moms who
> think
> > a shot is going to give your kids autism. you
> are
> > fucking insane and should be prosecuted for
> child
> > endangerment.
> >
> > my sister in law refused to have her kid done
> for
> > mmr, so i took him for a walk and the doc did
> the
> > deed. kid safe.
> >
> >
> > use your brains people.
>
>
> Use yours---there is no vaccine available for TB.
> I disagree with herd immunity (parents who refuse
> to vax b/c they count on their kids hanging out
> with kids who ARE vaccinated) but I find it hard
> to believe that an ethical health care provider
> would inject a child that is not yours with a
> vaccine...



you prove my point well:

http://www.who.int/vaccine_research/diseases/tb/vaccine_development/bcg/en/

and the fact the the doctor WAS ethical was exactly the reason they did it.

dumb fucker

Lee High School testing for tuberculosis after reported outbreak

County health department has alerted students, faculty of possible exposure
by Holly Hobbs In the wake of reports that as many as 430 students and faculty at Robert E. Lee High School could have been exposed to active tuberculosis, Fairfax County Health Department officials are trying to reassure residents while offering free tests and information on the infectious disease.

Three people within the Lee High School community have been identified as having active TB. One person was diagnosed in December 2012, and two were diagnosed in June.

Beginning last Friday, the health department hosted a free clinic at the high school offering free TB tests to those who had received letters from Fairfax County Public Schools on their possible exposure.

About half of those receiving notice of risk from FCPS visited a health department’s temporary clinic at the school as of noon Monday.

“Once a person receives the TST test, then he or she must return 48-72 hours later to have a health professional ‘read’ the individual’s arm for results,” Health Department spokesman Glen Barbour said. “This second part of the testing began [Monday] and will continue through this week for those who are being tested at the special clinic we’ve set up at Lee High School. If someone tests positive at this stage, that means that they may have latent TB infection, which is not contagious—not necessarily active TB disease, which is contagious. Those individuals with a positive result will then get a chest x-ray as the next step.”

Barbour said he could not report on whether anyone tested so far had tested positive, adding that once all testing is completed the Health Department will likely release more information.

The free TB tests are being offered at the high school to these individuals beginning Friday, June 21. Clinics are being held in the high school’s cafeteria from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and from 6 to 7:30 p.m. and June 24 through 28 to test only those who were notified by letter.

“The 430 individuals who we are testing today [Monday] have been identified as possibly having been exposed based on the amount of time they spent in proximity to any of the three cases prior to coming to our attention,” said Dr. Gloria Addo-Ayensu, director of the Fairfax County Department of Health. She and other Health Department officials addressed the TB cases and ongoing investigation of possible additional infections during a press conference last Friday afternoon.

“We really cast a broad net in an effort to make sure that we would be able to identify anyone who may have spent any considerable amount of time with any of the three individuals,” she said. Unlike other infectious diseases like influenza, TB is not spread easily, she said.

“It is not spread, for example, through touching surfaces or even holding someone’s hand, and so on. TB is not spread outside of the body for any considerable amount of time,” Addo-Ayensu said.

The three individuals found to have active TB earlier this year have not attended the school since their diagnosis, she said.

“So there has been no further risk of TB transmission at Lee High School from these three individuals,” she said. “Only people with active TB can spread the infection.”

The two individuals diagnosed in June tested positive for TB within a short time of each other and their connection to Lee High School caused the Health Department to investigate any further cases within the school’s community.

“One of these three individuals that we’ve looking at did not have active TB as a result of exposure in the school environment,” Addo-Ayensu said. “That individual was exposed somewhere else and we are still working with that individual. So basically, that individual –coming to our attention at this time—is really a coincidence. It’s really unusual that we would have three in such a short timeframe but now we realize that one of the three is not ill with active TB as a result of being exposed at Lee High School.”

According to the health department, about 90 people are identified by the department as having active TB each year. Because there were two new cases reported at Lee High School, the department decided to reopen its investigation and alert the public.

Symptoms of active TB include coughing that lasts three weeks or more, chest pains, coughing up blood or sputum, weakness or fatigue, weight loss and lack of appetite, chills, fever and night sweats. The health department says TB is preventable and curable if treated.

For more information, visit www.cdc.gov/tb.

For more information on Lee High School’s TB scare, go to www.fairfaxcounty.gov/hd/hdnews/2013-tb-investigation.htm

hhobbs@fairfaxtimes.com

Health Department expands TB testing at Lee High School
Goal is to get as many people tested as possible before school starts, health director says
http://www.fairfaxtimes.com/article/20130722/NEWS/130729911/1117/health-department-expands-tb-testing-at-lee-high-school&template=fairfaxTimes

On Monday, Fairfax County Health Department officials announced plans to expand its investigation of tuberculosis cases initiated at Robert E. Lee High School. In June, the health department reported three people within the Lee High School community had been identified as having active TB. One person was diagnosed in December 2012, and two were diagnosed in June. One of the June cases was linked to the December diagnosis.

As a result of the three cases, the department and Fairfax County Public Schools mailed more than 400 letters to students and faculty alerting them to their possible exposure. About 60 percent of these individuals were tested for TB at free clinics held at Lee High School earlier in the summer.

In the wake of these initial TB screenings, the health department announced Monday it had mailed an additional 1,900 letters to school community members, increasing the scope of their investigation to all students, faculty and support staff in the school.

“The test results show a higher than expected skin-test positivity rate. The skin-test shows latent TB infection,” health department spokesman Glen Barbour said. “Latent is not active. Latent TB is not contagious. You’ve just been exposed to the germs.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 10 percent of latent TB cases become active TB. Symptoms of active TB include coughing that lasts three weeks or more, chest pains, coughing up blood or sputum, weakness or fatigue, weight loss and lack of appetite, chills, fever and night sweats. The health department says TB is preventable and curable if treated.

“We want everyone at the school who has not been tested to take advantage of the special clinics and get tested,” said Director of Health Gloria Addo-Ayensu during a press conference Monday afternoon. “Our goal is to get as many people tested as possible before the school year starts.”

So far only 60 percent of those identified under the first round of investigation have been tested in county-run special clinics at Lee High School. About 5 percent of these have tested positive for TB. Additional clinic hours have been scheduled.

About 4 percent of the total U.S. population has latent TB, said Addo-Ayensu. This percentage is higher among foreign-born residents than the U.S.-born population, which equals less than 1 percent of the latent TB rate. Latent TB rates are also higher among those who travel internationally and may be exposed to higher concentrations of TB-positive populations. During the county health department’s investigation, the number of U.S.-born Lee High School community members testing positive for latent TB was higher than county officials had expected.

“This was significantly higher than what we would have expected for the U.S.-born in this area,” Addo-Ayensu said. “There is no ongoing transmission… The vast majority of the Lee High School community was not at risk of exposure of TB… The goal of our TB investigations is to first of all determine who has been exposed…and prevent future exposure of TB.”

Barbour said the health department does not yet have an estimate available on the cost of TB testing held because of the Lee High School cases.

For more information about the TB investigation, go to www.fairfaxcounty.gov/hd/hdnews/2013-tb-investigation.htm

TB testing schedule at Lee High School

Skin test: Aug. 3, 8 a.m. – noon – Return for results: Aug. 5, noon. – 4 p.m.
Skin test: Aug. 3, noon – 6 p.m. – Return for results: Aug. 6, 8 a.m. – noon.
Skin test: Aug. 5, 8 a.m. – noon. – Return for results: Aug. 7, noon – 4 p.m.
Skin test: Aug. 6, 8 a.m. – noon. – Return for skin test: Aug. 8, noon – 4 p.m.
Skin test: Aug. 10, 8 a.m. – noon. – Return for results: Aug. 12, noon – 4 p.m.

The head of the Health Dept should be FIRED over this screwup.

As a result of the three cases, the department and Fairfax County Public Schools mailed more than 400 letters to students and faculty alerting them to their possible exposure. About 60 percent of these individuals were tested for TB at free clinics held at Lee High School earlier in the summer.


60% of 400 people = 240 people

So far only 60 percent of those identified under the first round of investigation have been tested in county-run special clinics at Lee High School. About 5 percent of these have tested positive for TB. Additional clinic hours have been scheduled.


5% of 240 people= 12 people


12 + 3 original cases= 15 people

I'd say that is an outbreak.

Skin test: Aug. 3, 8 a.m. – noon – Return for results: Aug. 5, noon. – 4 p.m.
Skin test: Aug. 3, noon – 6 p.m. – Return for results: Aug. 6, 8 a.m. – noon.
Skin test: Aug. 5, 8 a.m. – noon. – Return for results: Aug. 7, noon – 4 p.m.
Skin test: Aug. 6, 8 a.m. – noon. – Return for skin test: Aug. 8, noon – 4 p.m.
Skin test: Aug. 10, 8 a.m. – noon. – Return for results: Aug. 12, noon – 4 p.m.


2000 students and staff in school. 240 have been tested-leaves 1760 people

5 sessions for 1760 people which is 350 per session.

think there will be long lines??

After recent tuberculosis cases, testing recommended for Fairfax County school
http://www.wtop.com/149/3410940/After-recent-tuberculosis-cases-testing-recommended-for-Fairfax-County-school

SPRINGFIELD, Va. - The Fairfax County Health Department is recommending all students, staff and faculty members of Robert E. Lee High School in Springfield, Va., be tested for tuberculosis after three students have tested positive for active tuberculosis since December. On Saturday, a clinic was staged at the high school and about 600 people are expected to be tested at the location by the time it closes.
"We're doing this out of an abundance of caution to make sure that anyone that possibly could have come in contact with any of the individuals with the active disease is found so we can treat them," says Fairfax County Health Director Dr. Gloria Addo-Ayensu.

Ana Espinoza, 15, was tested for tuberculosis Saturday. Her mother wanted to pull her out of the high school when she learned that three students were diagnosed with active tuberculosis since December.

"They want to just get [the testing] over with. See who has it and who doesn't so they can come back to school," she says.

Typically, a skin test is applied to the forearm. A fluid substance is injected just beneath the skin and a positive reaction would look like a hard lump, similar to a mosquito bite. Once the skin test is administered, the individual must return between 48 and 72 hours for the results. If someone tests positive for latent tuberculosis, free medications are made available and a chest x-ray is required to confirm active tuberculosis.

According to the Fairfax County Health Department, "about one-third of the world's population has latent tuberculosis infection, which means they have been infected by the TB germs but do not feel sick or have any symptoms and cannot spread the germs to others." Dr. Gloria Addo-Ayensu says that makes it difficult to determine where an individual was exposed.

"So we know that there's going to be individuals who are going to test positive today. Positive not because of their association with the high school but just because they've been living," she says.

The World Health Organization considers the United States a low-risk country for tuberculosis. Tuberculosis is curable if antibiotics are taken properly, according to the WHO.

Lauren McCarthy, 16, was screened Saturday morning.

"It hurt when I got the shot. I don't really like needles," she says.

Her mother, Gita, says it can be a scary experience for any family.

"I'm concerned that somebody could be exposed to it," she says. "But we're going through it, doing what we need to do to get it done. Everything's going to be fine."

Below are the dates for TB testing at Robert E. Lee High School:
•Skin Test: Saturday, Aug. 3, 8 a.m. - 12 p.m. Return for Results: Monday, Aug. 5, 12 p.m. - 4 p.m.
•Skin Test: Saturday, Aug. 3, 12 - 6 p.m. Return for Results: Tuesday, August 6, 8 a.m. - 12 p.m.
•Skin Test: Monday, Aug. 5, 8 a.m. - 12 p.m. Return for Results: Wednesday, Aug. 7, 12 - 4 p.m.
•Skin Test: Tuesday, Aug. 6, 8 a.m. - 12 p.m. Return for Skin Test: Thursday, Aug. 8, 12 - 4 p.m.
•Skin Test: Saturday, Aug. 10, 8 a.m. - 12 p.m. Return for Results: Monday, Aug. 12, 12 - 4 p.m.

How long are the lines?

Can you just go to the health dept to do it?

question about testing Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> How long are the lines?
>
> Can you just go to the health dept to do it?

The lines are pretty long, my advice is to get there early.

Yes, you can go to the Health department or your own doctor to get it done. You'll need to bring the paperwork from the doctor showing that you had the tests done and the results.

Tuberculosis
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB (short for tubercle bacillus) is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis.[1] Tuberculosis typically attacks the lungs, but can also affect other parts of the body. It is spread through the air when people who have an active TB infection cough, sneeze, or otherwise transmit respiratory fluids through the air.[2] Most infections are asymptomatic and latent, but about one in ten latent infections eventually progresses to active disease which, if left untreated, kills more than 50% of those so infected.

The classic symptoms of active TB infection are a chronic cough with blood-tinged sputum, fever, night sweats, and weight loss (the latter giving rise to the formerly prevalent term "consumption"). Infection of other organs causes a wide range of symptoms. Diagnosis of active TB relies on radiology (commonly chest X-rays), as well as microscopic examination and microbiological culture of body fluids. Diagnosis of latent TB relies on the tuberculin skin test (TST) and/or blood tests. Treatment is difficult and requires administration of multiple antibiotics over a long period of time. Social contacts are also screened and treated if necessary. Antibiotic resistance is a growing problem in multiple drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) infections. Prevention relies on screening programs and vaccination with the bacillus Calmette–Guérin vaccine.

One third of the world's population is thought to have been infected with M. tuberculosis,[3] with new infections occurring in about 1% of the population each year.[4] In 2007, there were an estimated 13.7 million chronic active cases globally,[5] while in 2010, there were an estimated 8.8 million new cases and 1.5 million associated deaths, mostly occurring in developing countries.[6] The absolute number of tuberculosis cases has been decreasing since 2006, and new cases have decreased since 2002.[6] The distribution of tuberculosis is not uniform across the globe; about 80% of the population in many Asian and African countries test positive in tuberculin tests, while only 5–10% of the United States population tests positive.[1] More people in the developing world contract tuberculosis because of compromised immunity, largely due to high rates of HIV infection and the corresponding development of AIDS.[7]

Causes

Mycobacteria

Main article: Mycobacterium tuberculosis





Scanning electron micrograph of Mycobacterium tuberculosis
The main cause of TB is Mycobacterium tuberculosis, a small, aerobic, nonmotile bacillus.[10] The high lipid content of this pathogen accounts for many of its unique clinical characteristics.[18] It divides every 16 to 20 hours, which is an extremely slow rate compared with other bacteria, which usually divide in less than an hour.[19] Mycobacteria have an outer membrane lipid bilayer.[20] If a Gram stain is performed, MTB either stains very weakly "Gram-positive" or does not retain dye as a result of the high lipid and mycolic acid content of its cell wall.[21] MTB can withstand weak disinfectants and survive in a dry state for weeks. In nature, the bacterium can grow only within the cells of a host organism, but M. tuberculosis can be cultured in the laboratory.[22]

Using histological stains on expectorated samples from phlegm (also called "sputum"), scientists can identify MTB under a regular (light) microscope. Since MTB retains certain stains even after being treated with acidic solution, it is classified as an acid-fast bacillus (AFB).[1][21] The most common acid-fast staining techniques are the Ziehl–Neelsen stain, which dyes AFBs a bright red that stands out clearly against a blue background,[23] and the auramine-rhodamine stain followed by fluorescence microscopy.[24]

The M. tuberculosis complex (MTBC) includes four other TB-causing mycobacteria: M. bovis, M. africanum, M. canetti, and M. microti.[25] M. africanum is not widespread, but it is a significant cause of tuberculosis in parts of Africa.[26][27] M. bovis was once a common cause of tuberculosis, but the introduction of pasteurized milk has largely eliminated this as a public health problem in developed countries.[1][28] M. canetti is rare and seems to be limited to the Horn of Africa, although a few cases have been seen in African emigrants.[29][30] M. microti is also rare and is mostly seen in immunodeficient people, although the prevalence of this pathogen has possibly been significantly underestimated.[31]

Other known pathogenic mycobacteria include M. leprae, M. avium, and M. kansasii. The latter two species are classified as "nontuberculous mycobacteria" (NTM). NTM cause neither TB nor leprosy, but they do cause pulmonary diseases that resemble TB.[32]
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