Health officials say eight more children at Charlotte Central School tested positive for tuberculosis in a second round of tests at the school after an adult employee was found to have an active case of TB disease.
After the initial case was diagnosed, Vermont health officials tested 150 people at the school and found that seven children and one adult were infected with tuberculosis. In light of those results, officials decided to test the rest of the student body at the school, a total of 223 students.
“There are no active cases of TB at the school, and there is no ongoing risk,” health officials said in a release Tuesday.
Tuberculosis can take the form of an active disease, manifesting itself as a persistent cough, or a latent infection. Infections are not contagious and can be treated with a nine-month course of antibiotics to prevent the disease from becoming active.
So far at Charlotte Central, only one person – the initial case – has been confirmed to have an active case of the disease. Officials say tuberculosis cannot be transmitted through surfaces and only spreads when someone with an active case of the disease coughs and a nearby person inhales.
After the initial eight infections were discovered, health officials said those who test positive get a medical exam and chest X-ray to ensure they don’t have an active case of TB, then started on the nine-month course of antibiotics.
If an active case is discovered, officials said it is fully curable with a six-month run of antibiotics.
