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SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Health officials say 21 students at a Sacramento high school appear to have been exposed to tuberculosis.
The students at Grant High School were given skin tests for the disease after another student there came down with TB. The skin tests came back positive.
County health officials tell the Sacramento Bee (http://bit.ly/OokH70) that does not mean the students have active TB, which can be fatal. In fact, none of them shows symptoms of the disease.
They will, however, undergo further tests and be treated with antibiotics, as even latent TB can become active years later.
The student who came down with the disease was diagnosed last month and is undergoing treatment.
Symptoms of active TB include a persistent cough and fever. Only active TB is contagious. It is spread through the air.
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Information from: The Sacramento Bee, http://www.sacbee.com
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