Tuberculosis case reported at SC high school, health officials confirm

A tuberculosis case has been reported at a South Carolina school, state health officials say.

On Thursday, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control said the case was confirmed at Chester High School.

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DHEC said anyone who was in close contact with the person who tested positive needs to be tested for the disease.

The health department is working with the school to contact trace and has already identified certain people who need to get tested.

Senior Brianna Childers said her classmates have been talking about it.

“It’s been going around that it was a student or a teacher,” Childers said.

Some are concerned they may have been exposed to TB, she said.

“Whenever you turn around, you see a lot of other kids grabbing a mask from the front office. So, it’s probably up in the air and stuff at the school,” the student said.

As DHEC investigates, Childers hopes the district will do its part to prevent the spread.

“Try to take some precaution with it by trying to clean the school in a type of way just to make sure no one catches it,” she said.

Piedmont nurse practitioner Bailey Ward said TB is a respiratory infection, which spreads through the air and can be dangerous.

“It’s spread by respiratory droplets, so coughing, sneezing, that’s how it passes,” the nurse said. “It’s very important if you’ve been exposed to get tested and treated.”

It can be treated with antibiotics.

DHEC said because the TB germ is spread by a person into the air, special sanitation of the school is not necessary.

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