Tuberculosis meeting held at Westlake High School

WESTLAKE, Ohio - A meeting Friday evening to answer questions about a tuberculosis case at Westlake High School could have been held in the principal’s office instead of the performing art auditorium.

That’s because fewer than 20 people attended the meeting.

Officials and some attending the meeting credited the low turnout to information being sent out to parents in a very quick manner.

“I think what it says it that the school did a really good job of getting the word out,” said Pamala Schnellinger with Cuyahoga County Tuberculosis Program at MetroHealth Medical Center. “We were able to allay fears by letting people know that there’s minimal exposure, that the risk is very, very low for everyone.

 Beth Karpuszka, whose daughter is a Westlake High School freshman, agreed.

“We got very detailed phone calls, emails, links to the CDC (Center for Disease Control) , we can get all our information right there."

Scott Mahan with the TB Program told audience members that they normally see a case similar to this about every three to five years.

He also confirmed the person in a tuberculosis case in Lakewood is the same person in the Westlake case.

Voluntary TB testing will be offered to all Westlake high school students and employees as an extra precaution.  TB skin tests will be offered Tuesday, Jan. 10, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Westlake Schools Performing Arts Center lobby by nurses from the Cuyahoga County TB Program. The tests will be read 48 hours after placement on Thursday, Jan. 12, from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., also in the Performing Arts Center lobby.

The contact in Lakewood was so limited, the TB Program contacted each person who came in contact with the tuberculosis case individually. No testing will be done in Lakewood.

After the meeting, Karpuszka said she attended to get more information on testing.

“I wanted to hear more about the testing and who they thought they needed to be tested, how many people they thought needed to be tested” she said. “I got the feeling that they really don’t even think you need to be tested.”

Schnellinger said there are three outcomes to exposure to TB; nothing happens as your body fights it off, or the person can develop a latent TB infection where it remains dormant in the body with no sickness, or the person develops the disease.

Mahan said that those with a compromised immune system or infants are the most susceptible to the disease.

According to the CDC, Tuberculosis is caused by a bacterium called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The bacteria usually attack the lungs, but TB bacteria can attack any part of the body such as the kidney, spine, and brain.

School district officials told NewsChannel5 Thursday that the person was diagnosed over the holiday break as having TB by the TB Clinic at MetroHealth Medical Center. The person has not returned to school.