Student Who Attends C.C. Winn High School Diagnosed with Tuberculosis

The Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS), Region 8 has recently identified a case of tuberculosis, or TB, in a student who happens to attend CC Winn High School.  DSHS staff will hold informational meetings for concerned parents, in English and Spanish, on March 3, 2016, at 6:00 pm, at CC Winn High School.

To prevent any other people from getting TB, DSHS Region 8 will perform TB testing for students, faculty, and staff identified as potentially exposed to TB.  Only people with prolonged, close contact with a person who has TB need to be tested.  DSHS will identify who needs a test and notify those people by letter during the week of March 7-11, 2016.  Parents of students who need a test will also receive a testing permission slip that must be signed and returned.  The testing will occur during the week of 21-25 March 2016.  The tests will be free for people who may have been exposed.

No one who might have been exposed to TB is in immediate danger.  TB is not easily spread and, when it does, develops very slowly.  The TB test identifies those who have TB infection so they can be treated.  The test is very accurate, but works best 8-10 weeks after exposure.  Anyone who tests positive will need medical treatment to prevent them from getting sick.  This treatment will be provided free by DSHS.

TB is spread by germs that float in the air.  The germs get into the air when a person with TB coughs, shouts, or sneezes.  Nearby people can inhale TB germs into their lungs.
TB germs can live in your body without making you sick.  This is called TB infection.  Your immune system traps the TB germs and keeps them from causing disease.  Sometimes the TB germs break out of the trap and spread in the body.  The germs can attack the lungs or other parts of the body.  This is called TB disease.  Someone with TB disease may have a cough that won’t go away, feel weak, lose weight, have a fever, sweat a lot at night, or even cough up blood.  With proper medical treatment, a person with TB infection will not get TB disease, and a person with TB disease will get better.