Forty-Five More at Virginia High School Test Positive for TB Infection

About 45 people out of 900 students and staff at Douglas S. Freeman High School in Henrico County, Va., tested positive for tuberculosis infection in the third round of testing last week. Dr. Curtis Thorpe, director of Henrico's health department, said he "expected to get this percentage" of at-risk students. Officials decided to test the entire school population after 20 percent of students who came in contact with a student discovered to have TB disease in December had positive skin tests. The department had planned to test 1,400 students and staff, but some were not tested or their results were unavailable. "There's no cause for alarm," said Thorpe. "We've tested the best group and are sure the remaining results will not have a big effect." He also added that there are no plans to test groups outside Freeman but officials intend to retest some students in April. So far, there has been only one case of TB disease at the school.

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