About 390 students, faculty and staff have been recommended for tuberculosis testing by the Marion County Public Health Department after one active case of the disease was reported in an IU-Purdue University Indianapolis student.
The Marion County Public Health Department’s TB Control program along with IUPUI identified a group of people who were determined to be in the closest contact with the infected person “out of an abundance of caution,” Curt Brantingham of the Marion County Public Health Department said in an email.
These people were notified of their possible exposure via a letter from the University.
IU spokesperson Mark Land said the Marion County Public Health Department is taking the lead on the case. The department offered two clinics on the IUPUI campus this week for people in the group who may have been at risk to exposure to the TB germ.
Free testing is also available at one of the Marion County Public Health Department’s district health offices or at the IUPUI campus health center, Brantingham said in the email.
He said testing could also be sought through a personal health care provider.
Brantingham confirmed that no other active cases of TB have been confirmed as a result of the initial case.
TB is an airborne virus that can be spread from person to person. However, Brantingham said in the email the disease is difficult to transmit. It cannot be spread on surfaces such as handrails, desktops surfaces or athletic equipment.
Symptoms of TB include a sick or weak feeling, weight loss, fever, night sweats, chest pain and even the coughing up of blood.
“If a person experiences any of these symptoms, they should be evaluated by a health care provider immediately,” Brantingham said in the email.
Skin tests are the most common ways to test for TB, Brantingham said. The test only identifies if the TB germ is present and not if there is an active case of TB. The presence of the germ does not mean a person is infectious.
A chest X-ray and further medical evaluation can be performed in order to determine if someone with the TB germ has the active TB disease.
Carley Lanich
