Dan Genz, The Examiner
2008-05-03 07:00:00.0
Current rank: # 4,043 of 8,162

Manassas -

Dozens of Osbourn High School students who have been near a person diagnosed with a suspected case of tuberculosis will be tested for the contagious bacterial disease at the campus Monday.

Students, teachers and staff members who were in close proximity to the affected person for a sustained amount of time will be screened in a joint effort by the health department and Manassas City Public Schools. Results will be known Wednesday.

The schools learned of the severity of the suspected case Tuesday night and alerted parents with letters and phone calls Thursday.

Through Wednesday and Thursday, school staff worked with the health department to identify everyone who spent a significant amount of time with the person.

"Those at the highest risk of becoming infected are close contacts that had prolonged contact with the infectious individual," Health Director Dr. Alison Ansher wrote in a letter to parents. "While this rarely happens in a school environment, we feel it is prudent to screen persons who shared this individual's airspace for longer periods of time."

The letter emphasized that officials are not sure the person had the disease, saying it was a possible case.

The school system did not conduct special cleaning as a result of the case, partly because its upgraded cleaning procedures - begun as a result of the fall's staph infection scare - already eliminate most bacteria, said Sandy Thompson, supervisor of administrative services for the schools.

"We have a pretty comprehensive custodial program and we didn't need to alter it anyway," Thompson said. "We already are using the latest and greatest."

dgenz@dcexaminer.com