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The Georgia Department of Public Health informed the Floyd County School District Wednesday afternoon of an active case of tuberculosis diagnosed in elementary schools Model Elementary and Johnson.
A spokesman for Northwestern Georgia's Ministry of Public Health said that only one case of tuberculosis had been diagnosed and that person had been in both schools.
Due to the law on transferability and responsibility for health insurance, the GDPH did not warn the system of whether or not they were students or professors, said the Superintendent Jeff Wilson.
"We will test everyone who thinks they can have it," he said. "We do not want to play more or less."
DPH's letters will go home to all MES and JES families with more details and action plans today.
Vanity Romano, parent of a model elementary school student, said he received one of two letters sent by the school. The letter informed him that his child may have been in contact with the person diagnosed with tuberculosis, she said. The letter also told him that the system would test tuberculosis in students next Tuesday, with the results taking between 48 and 72 hours to come.
Romano said she feared it would not be soon enough. "What concerns me is exposure, because it can spread," she said. "If there is a risk that my daughter or anyone will be exposed to an illness, the earlier the diagnosis, the better."
Romano said that she had tried going to her daughter's primary care doctor, but they had told her that they were not doing these tests there. She received similar responses from emergency care and the emergency room. Romano said she had called the department of health and that she had been told that a TB test was already scheduled for Tuesday for Floyd County students. They would not be testing her daughter this week.
"I'm just trying to do the best for everyone," she said, adding that she would keep her daughter at home until the test to avoid a possible exposure of her daughter. girl and other people.
The Centers for Disease Control say it can take anywhere from two to twelve weeks for symptoms of TB to begin to appear. Tests administered to students on Tuesday will only show if a student has been infected with the bacteria and not necessarily if the student has a latent TB infection.
While this may be a cause for concern, says a school district press release, the risk of being infected with TB is low.
Dr. Unini Odama, director of health of the North West Public Health District (DPH), said in a statement that the case was being treated at home and that there had been no danger present.
"We are working with FCS officials to identify and test people at risk of TB exposure based on guidelines from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. We believe that the actions of the school officials and the Floyd Medical Center protect the health of students, staff and the public. The case of confirmed TB is being treated at home and presents no danger to others, "said Odama in a statement.
According to the CDC, tuberculosis is a disease caused by germs that spread from person to person by air. Tuberculosis usually affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body, such as the brain, kidneys or spine.
General symptoms of TB include feelings of sickness or weakness, weight loss, fever, and night sweats. Symptoms of pulmonary tuberculosis also include coughing, chest pain and spitting of blood.
The germs of tuberculosis are put in the air when a person with tuberculosis diseaselungs or throat coughs, sneezes, speaks or sings. These germs can stay in the air for several hours, depending on the environment. People who breathe in the air containing these germs of TB can be infected. this is what is called latent tuberculosis infection.
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