Tests Find Some Exposure to TB

COSTA MESA — Nine people tested positive for exposure to tuberculosis in a skin-test screening of 92 students and instructors at Orange Coast College last week, a county health official said Tuesday.

The number is below what one would expect in an ethnically diverse population such as Orange Coast’s, and does not indicate any sort of health problem at the college, said Dr. Penny Weismuller, disease control manager at the Orange County Health Care Agency. The expected number of positive tests would be about 16, or 17% to 18%, she said.

The TB screening was prompted by a former student’s disclosure in September that she had developed active tuberculosis. The Los Angeles woman had attended a couple of sessions of a class in August with as many as 24 other students.

Weismuller said 10 of those students had negative skin tests, one was positive from a previous exposure to TB, and one took the test but did not return to have it read by health officials. Twelve others did not show up for testing.

Many people who have positive tests do not go on to develop TB. The nine people with positive skin tests will need to have follow-up chest X-rays to determine whether the disease is present in their lungs, Weismuller said.

County health officials will continue their attempts to check on the students who were not tested, Weismuller said.