Ennis Parents Told 128 Tuberculosis Tests Were Positive

September 28, 2011 9:28 PM

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ENNIS (CBSDFW.COM) – Parents in Ennis received a crash course in tuberculosis as state health officials tried to ease concerns about the spread of the disease Wednesday.

The Texas Department of State Health Services says 128 people have tested positive for the latent or non-active form of TB. And up to 10 people are now suspected of having active TB.

The jump in numbers is why hundreds of parents, many of them angry, packed the auditorium at Ennis High School Wednesday evening.

Parents wanted to know why hasn’t every student been tested and what’s being done to protect those who don’t have the disease. It’s proof that frustration is growing, and so are the number of TB cases.

So far 836 people in Ennis have been tested, with 481 tests already read. The spread of TB has been traced to a former teacher at Ennis High School who had an active case of tuberculosis.

Ennis Parents Told 128 Tuberculosis Tests Were Positive

http://fortworthinsight.com/news/ennis-parents-told-128-tb-tests-confirmed-positive/ Ennis Parents Told 128 TB Tests Confirmed Positive « Fort Worth News Feeds

[...] Go to News Source [...]
http://dallasforme.com/2011/09/ennis-parents-told-128-tb-tests-confirmed-positive/ Ennis Parents Told 128 TB Tests Confirmed Positive — Me and the Chicks

[...] as state health officials tried to ease concerns about the spread of the disease Wednesday. More from: http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2011/0… PreviousPost [...]
Spider

Well. Lets get some more Illegal aliens in here on the double. 128 cases just aren’t enough. There are a thousand reasons why we need to control our border. 3rd world immunization policies is like 734 on the list.

darrell

actually its number 977, right behind the parts covering what constitutional law says.
liberty

spider, i am from here… and i do not vaccinate my offspring. your comment is irrelevant. health is not measured on the amount of vaccinations you get. if you were a little more educated you would see it is the other way around. i am afraid you are just another sheep that follows whatever the powers that be say without questioning.

judy

liberty, the county court-at-law judge I used to work for sat behind someone on a bus that had TB and ended up having to have one of his lungs removed. There’s even a movie out called “The Tunnel”….if you haven’t seen it. TB is a highly contageous disease which killed thousands of people back in the late 1920′s and early 1930′s. Maybe you should have your “offspring” tested instead of taking the chance of them infecting others if they are carriers. Maybe spider is better educated than you think if you think it’s unnecessary to vaccinate your offspring. I was glad my kids sat next to someone in school who had been vaccinated against the childhood diseases!

erik

Well, if you don’t vaccinate your children, you are part of the problem too…

mister

Isn’t that the dang truth! I knew a lady that didn’t vaccinate her kids and they are the ones that will spread this stuff like wildfire!

mister

Why don’t they test their own kids? I’m sure a free clinic would do it if they didn’t have insuarnce
darrell

◦The tuberculosis vaccine, known as bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) may prevent the spread of tuberculosis and tuberculous meningitis in children, but the vaccine does not necessarily protect against pulmonary tuberculosis.
Bob

I did not know BCG was available in the US. I got mine 40 years ago due to special risks. It was brought into US by CDC from France for my vaccination.

Even though it is considered a very safe vaccine, the US does not generally use it. (The last I knew, we were the only country which does not immunize with BCG). We prefer to depend on the detection and treatment. That may change due to the rise is antibiotic resistant TB. Because of this folks who have had BCG are generally not allowed to be blood donors. So that the false positive is not spread in the population.

darrell

BCG is only recommended by the CDC in infants, newborn and healthcare workers who are in an enviornment that places them in high risk of of exposure to type M tuberculosis or antibiotic resistant strains. it is not recommended as a general vaccination for ther public.

angie

there’s a tb vaccination?

Bob

Since sometime in the early 1900′s.

Rick McDaniel

This is pretty amazing, when the state requires an annual TB test for all state employees.

One has to wonder, if the school followed state mandates, on this issue.

Bob

Texas does not require screen for students or teachers. See attached site:

http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/idcu/disease/tb/faqs/default.asp

Former Teacher

Right. Generally a teacher would only have to be tested when they get their certificate originally then again when hired by new districts. I taught for 17 years and got tested 2 or 3 times but certainly not every year.

NonParent

Have you checked them for lice too!
JUST OBSERVING

I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHAT IS BEING DONE TO CONTAIN THIS OUTBREAK? I HAVE READ NOTHING ABOUT ATTEMPTS AT CONTAINMENT.
alleyops219

The Texas Health Services is not being totally forth coming with the people of Ennis. There are 12 cases being treated as active tuberculosis, which is highly contagious. They don’t seem to agree that knowledge is power, knowing will help them protect our children and help them do their job.
This has been handled all wrong and all these kids that have tested positive could have been avoided.
http://fortworthinsight.com/news/denton-transfer-student-from-ennis-tests-positive-for-tb-after-hospitalization/ Denton Transfer Student From Ennis Tests Positive For TB After Hospitalization « Fort Worth News Feeds

[...] High has been the home of a TB scare where nearly 200 students and faculty have tested positive for the latent or non-active form of the disease, while as many as 10 people are suspected of [...]
http://fortworthinsight.com/news/denton-isd-notifies-parents-about-possible-tb-case/ Denton ISD Notifies Parents About Possible TB Case « Fort Worth News Feeds

[...] Dozens of Ennis ISD students have tested positive for the non-contagious form of the disease in recent weeks. [...]