Active Case of Tuberculosis Identified at Olathe Northwest High School

JOHNSON COUNTY, KANSAS – The Johnson County Department of Health and Environments says they are working with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment to conduct a tuberculosis investigation at Olathe Northwest High School after identifying a single case of active TB in a student who attends the school.

The individual is in isolation and receiving medication to treat the illness.  Other students who may have had contact with the student are being identified.  The health department says the risk to the general public is low as TB is not easily spread.

TB is spread through the air by coughing, laughing, singing and sneezing.  The only way to contract the disease is by frequent or close contact with someone who has an active case of the disease.  It cannot be spread by contact with someone’s clothing, drinking glass, eating utensils, handshake, toliet or other surfaces.  Symptoms of TB can include a cough of longer than three weeks, unexplained weight loss, night sweats, chills, fever and coughing up blood.

TB is preventable and curable.  It is typically treated for six to nine months with antibiotics, but a person will become non-contagious within a few days to weeks of effective treatment and can return to normal activities without risk to others while completing treatment.