134 Students, Staff Test Positive for TB at Indio High School

Of more than 1,300 students and staff at Indio High School who were tested for exposure to tuberculosis, 134 people tested positive, county health officials said today.

The positive test results were at expected levels, Riverside County Public Health Officer Dr. Cameron Kaiser said.    

"Given this population, we would expect a positive test result of no more than 10 to 15 percent," he said. "These numbers are very reassuring for the community as a whole. The health department will follow up with those who tested positive for exposure."

County health workers evaluated 1,332 skin tests today and, of those, 126 students tested positive for possible exposure. Students and staff who planned to be gone this week for Christmas vacation got their blood tested Friday, and eight of those 200 samples tested positive for possible exposure, according to health officials.

Those with positive results were asked to get chest X-rays, which will help determine if they are infected. Those results don't mean they have active TB, and the likelihood of the disease spreading is low, Kaiser said.     

An Indio High student was diagnosed with active TB earlier this month, prompting an initial screening of selected students in which 45 students tested positive for possible exposure.     

The results of that screening prompted Friday's expansion of testing to everyone at the campus, Riverside County Department of Public Health spokesman Jose Arballo said.     

All but 31 students tested Friday returned today to have their skin test results read. Skin testing, the usual method, involves the injection of a testing agent. 

In early November, a total 250 Vista Murrieta High School faculty and students were tested for TB when it was discovered that a student was diagnosed with an active case.    

Following an on-campus clinic held in November at Vista Murrieta, a district official said eight had positive skin tests.

“All of their chest X-rays were negative,” said Karen Parris, spokeswoman for the Murrieta Valley Unified School District. "There will be another clinic in January to re-test everyone who tested negative to make sure they are still negative." 

Tuberculosis, which usually attacks the lungs, is airborne, and not everyone infected with TB bacteria gets sick. The disease can be fatal if not treated properly, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

More information is at www.rivco-diseasecontrol.org.

—City News Service and Maggie Avants contributed to this report.