County Calls for Mandatory TB Tests for College Class : Public health: 149 who attended a summer math course at Golden West College may have been exposed to the disease and have not been screened.

County health authorities are calling for mandatory tuberculosis screening of nearly 150 students who attended a summer math class at Golden West College because they may have been exposed to the disease.

Dr. Gerald Wagner, Orange County’s interim health officer, said Friday that the college testing program is an extension of a mass tuberculosis screening the Orange County Health Care Agency conducted last month at La Quinta High School in Westminster that came after the discovery in the spring of six active cases of drug-resistant tuberculosis within the high school junior class.

As a result of the testing of nearly 1,300 students and teachers at La Quinta, another student was recently discovered to be infected and was directed into treatment.

Wagner said one of the La Quinta students who had received a tuberculosis diagnosis had attended a math class during the summer at Golden West College and thus may have exposed classmates there to the disease. He said the student, now a senior at La Quinta, is being treated and is no longer considered contagious.

“We want to make certain there is nobody missed so there is no further spread of TB from this particular outbreak in the community,” Wagner said. He added that the testing at Golden West will complete the county’s investigation.

An earlier attempt to have the summer math students voluntarily submit to tuberculosis skin tests was not successful, Wagner said. Only 23 of the 172 students considered to be at risk for exposure showed up for a screening in mid-September.

Wagner said the college sent a second letter to the remaining 149 advising them that their participation in testing is required.

Wagner said he expects a much better turnout for this testing, mostly because publicity about the TB screening at La Quinta has increased public awareness of the seriousness of the disease, which often displays no symptoms in its early stages.

The disease is spread through the air when a person with infectious tuberculosis of the lungs coughs.

Golden West College spokeswoman Wendy Weber said the skin testing will take place on the campus between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Tuesday at the student health center. The students will be asked to return Thursday so that medical personnel can see whether they have had a positive skin reaction.

Wagner said those with positive skin tests will receive chest X-rays to learn whether they have sustained any lung damage. Should lung damage be present, laboratory testing of a sputum sample will provide definitive evidence as to whether they have active tuberculosis.