Tests find 11 university students exposed to TB bacteria at MSS

The Associated Press

JOPLIN, Mo. -- Eleven students at Missouri Southern State University have tested positive for exposure to the bacteria that causes tuberculosis, but none shows symptoms of active cases of the disease, university and health officials said.

The 11 were among about 200 students and staff members tested for TB earlier this week after the disease was confirmed in a student who lived in an MSSU dormitory in the spring.

That student, whose identity has not been released, is responding to treatment and plans to return to school when he recovers, university spokesman Rod Surber said Thursday.

Skin tests on students who had been classmates or roommates of the infected student were done Tuesday.

Dan Pekarek, director of the Joplin Health Department, said the 11 who tested positive for exposure will be put on treatment regimens. The state will pay for their treatment.

A person must have an active case of the disease to spread the bacteria. Even then, close contact is required.

"We will look at these cases in more depth," Pekarek said. "We will look to see if they have a significant amount of exposure to the index case. That will tell us if we were on the mark with our testing. If they have no relationship or minimal contact with the individual, that will tell us if we need more testing."

Tuberculosis is spread through the air -- for example, when an infected person coughs or sneezes.

Symptoms depend on where the bacteria are growing in the body but may include a bad cough that lasts longer than two weeks, pain in the chest, coughing up blood or phlegm from deep inside the lungs, weakness or fatigue, weight loss, lack of appetite, chills, fever and night sweats.

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On the Net:

http://www.mssu.edu

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Information from: The Joplin Globe, http://www.joplinglobe.com