Heartening Coordination in TB Fight : State, County Health Officials’ Serious Approach Is Testimony of Professionalism

The outbreaks of tuberculosis at La Quinta High School in Westminster, while closely monitored at the county level in recent months, continue to be a source of concern.

Earlier this year, 18 more students and two staff members at the school tested positive for TB bacteria after coming in contact with a student who in February suffered a relapse of contagious TB, even though she says she was taking her daily medication. The new cases came in addition to the almost 200 students and staff members who already were being treated; 17 of these were being treated for active TB and 175 others tested positive for exposure to the bacteria.

In response to these developments, it is heartening to see the seriousness with which county and state health officials are treating these cases. This is especially so in view of the disruption and anxiety necessarily being experienced by students at La Quinta. The fact that the school’s administration has reported that many students are taking the latest TB threat in stride is testimony to the good spirits of people on campus. But it also is an indication of the measured professionalism with which county and state authorities are approaching the problem.

The county has begun retesting most of the school’s 1,300 students and staff as it had last fall. And the chief of the state’s division of communicable disease control, Dr. Richard Jackson, has sent a physician with expertise in epidemiology, and a public health adviser, to review the case of the senior who suffered the relapse. The state has positioned itself to act as a consultant to the County Health Care Agency, which has the lead responsibility for dealing with the outbreak.

At the request of the state, the county agency already has decided to devote a physician full-time to coordinate the TB control effort at La Quinta. This includes not only doing the screening, but tracking students who are found to have latent or active TB, especially those who are members of the senior class and may be moving elsewhere or entering the work force after graduation.

Moreover, the state has indicated that it intends to investigate the earlier outbreak at La Quinta, to see if there were any instances where cases were improperly diagnosed and reported and whether the patients’ treatment had been properly monitored.

In view of the seriousness of the illness, these measures are warranted, and it is good to see the county and state cooperating in this important effort.