Tuberculosis Case Leads to Skin Tests at El Modena

The Orange County Health Care Agency will conduct precautionary skin tests next month at El Modena High School after a student was diagnosed this month with an active case of tuberculosis.

Orange Unified School District officials said Friday that the student, whose identity they withheld along with details about the case, will not attend school until the infection clears up. School starts Sept. 7.

In the meantime, the Health Care Agency, which notified the school district about the student’s disease, is trying to contact everyone who may have come in contact with the ailing teenager, said Dr. Penny Weismuller, tuberculosis controller for the agency.

Also, school district officials have mailed letters to El Modena parents, students and staff informing them of the testing program. Testing is being offered to anyone in the community who desires it, district spokeswoman Judy Frutig said.

“We want our school community to know that every possible precaution is being taken to assure that they are safe and that El Modena High School is a safe place to be,” Frutig said.

Testing will take place Sept. 18, with results available Sept. 20. The tests are free, and the health agency will provide any necessary follow-up treatment.

If results of the skin test are positive, then a chest X-ray will follow. If the X-ray is normal, then the person is considered to have a dormant TB infection, not the disease itself, and medication will be offered. If the X-ray shows active tuberculosis, then the person would undergo intensive treatment.

The risk of developing active tuberculosis after a positive skin test is only 5% to 10% in a lifetime, according to a letter sent to parents by school nurse Edna Canto-Herzog.

As part of the program, representatives of the Health Care Agency will hold two informational meetings, Tuesday and Sept. 12, both at 7 p.m. and in Room 426 at the high school.

“It is important to remember that TB is a curable disease and treatable with modern medicine,” Weismuller said in a prepared statement.

Tuberculosis rates hit an all-time high in the late 1800s, but improved living conditions, better nutrition and modern drugs have dramatically reduced its spread.

Last year, the Health Care Agency tested nearly 400 students and staff members at Orange High School after a teenager was diagnosed with tuberculosis in January 1999. Of the 400, 39 people tested positive, indicating exposure at some time in their lives to the disease, but none had any symptoms.

The county handles about 300 cases of active tuberculosis annually. The health agency investigates every case, officials said.