
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, December 11, 1993                   TAG: 9312110177
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-2   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS                                LENGTH: Short

STUDENTS TESTED AFTER TB EXPOSURE

Six people at Warwick High School have tested positive for exposure to the tuberculosis bacteria, but health officials said that doesn't mean any of them will develop the contagious disease.

Public health nurse Linda Rose said it is unlikely that the six tested positive because of exposure to someone at the school suspected of being infected. Up to 6 percent of the general population can always expect to test positive for TB exposure, she said.

Health officials have obtained results from 183 people tested at Warwick on Monday. The handful of positive results "does not indicate any cause for alarm," Rose said.

Last week, Newport News school officials learned that someone at the 1,500-student school is suspected of having the disease and said they would test some students and staff.

Initially, about 125 people were advised to get the TB skin test because they had close contact with the person who may be infected. Officials also made the tests available to anyone who wanted one.

Testing continued at the school through Friday.

Officials would not say whether the person suspected of having the disease is a student or employee. They said they won't know for several weeks whether the person actually has tuberculosis pending laboratory test results.

Each of the six who tested positive has been advised to get a chest X-ray and, depending on the results, might be put on a six-month course of preventive medicine.

The suspected person is believed to have the pulmonary form, transmitted by inhaling tiny droplets that contain the bacteria.

by CNB