Woman tests positive for tuberculosis

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - Mobile County health officials say a person with active tuberculosis may have exposed students in the third grade at Pearl Haskew Elementary School.

The health department has recommended those students receive a tuburculin skin test. They say it is a routine procedure to determine exposure to tuberculosis.

Tuberculosis (TB) is a disease caused by bacteria that usually attacks the lungs. TB is spread through the air from one person to another when a person with active TB disease of the lungs or throat coughs or sneezes.

The Mobile County Health Department personnel will administer the skin test on Wednesday, January 23. The personnel will return Friday, January 25 to read the skin test. The health department asks parents and guardians to return to school on that day.

If your child is absent on that day, you're asked to take them to the Mobile County Healthy Department Tuberculosis Clinic.

The testing is mandatory for all third grade students but is also being offered to all other grade level students.

Facts about Tuberculosis (TB)

• TB is a disease that is spread person to person through the air. TB usually affects the lungs. The germs are put into the air when a person with TB of the lungs coughs, sneezes, laughs or sings. TB also can affect other parts of the body such as the brain, kidneys or spine.
• General symptoms may include one or a combination of the following symptoms: feeling weak or sick, weight loss, fever and night sweats.
• A person with TB disease, not TB infection, is sick from the germs that are active in his or her body.
• A person with TB infection, not TB disease, is not sick because the germs are not active in his or her body. Medicine is prescribed for people with TB infection to prevent them from developing TB disease.

For more information, call the Health Department’s TB Clinic at 251-690-8143.