Windsor C-1 Superintendent Joel Holland has confirmed that someone associated with Windsor High School has been diagnosed with an active case of tuberculosis.
At a press conference held with officials from the Jefferson County Health Department this morning (May 26), Kelley Vollmar, director of the Health Department, said school officials were notified of the case yesterday, the last day of school.
Her department learned of the case through the standard notification process, Vollmar said.
“Any time there is an active case of TB, any health care physician is supposed to notify the Health Department,” she said.
The person involved has been isolated and is receiving medication to treat the illness, a press release said, and efforts to identify anyone who may have been in contact with the infected person are underway.
Holland declined to say whether the person involved is a student or staff member.
Tuberculosis, a bacterial infection, is transmitted through the air when someone with an active case of the disease coughs, sneezes, speaks or sings, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Symptoms of the disease, when it is active, include a bad cough that lasts three weeks or longer, chest pains, coughing up blood or sputum, weight loss, fever and night sweats, according to the CDC.
For the most part, if treated, the disease is not life-threatening, Vollmar said.
“In general, tuberculosis is preventable and curable,” she said.
According to the press release, tuberculosis typically is treated with medicine for six to nine months, and the infected person will not be contagious within a few weeks of beginning treatment and can return to normal activities without risk to others.
Holland said Windsor’s director of school nursing, who has been with the district for 40 years, said this is the first case that she has known.
“This is very rare from our experiences,” Holland said.
Vollmar said, however, the disease is not uncommon.
“In Jefferson County we have one to two cases a year,” she said. “In the (St. Louis) metropolitan area, there are a lot more cases, mostly because of international travel.”
The Health Department has already started to notify people who have been in contact with the victim and held the press conference with the school district to get the information out and possibly find more people who should be notified.
“Because of the association of the case with a school district, there is a heightened concern among parents, students and staff,” Vollmar said. “We wanted to get as much information to the public as possible.”
People with an active case of tuberculosis usually spread the disease to people they spend time with every day, such as family members, coworkers or classmates, according to the CDC.
A person who has prolonged contact with the person to be considered a high risk of being exposed, Vollmar said.
“Even those who have been exposed to the disease are not likely to get the disease right away,” Vollmar said. “It’s something that has to build in the body.”
Those who have been exposed to tuberculosis may never come down with it unless their immune system is compromised in some way, she said.
“A person with a latent tuberculosis infection is not contagious and not sick,” she said. “We will be giving contacts appropriate treatment if screening says a person has been exposed to the disease,” Vollmar said.
The district plans to hold a forum for Windsor High School staff members and parents at 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 31, in the high school auditorium, 6208 Hwy. 61-67, in Imperial.