Tuberculosis, the one-time leading cause of death in the U.S., is again at the center of attention.
The Baltimore City Health Department announced Thursday that a female student at Baltimore City Community College?s Liberty campus during the summer and fall had tuberculosis in late September.
Once officials quarantined the infected student for treatment, city health officials notified more than 200 classmates via two letters, with contact information provided by the college.
The Baltimore City Health Department will hold two free screenings next week on campus for students who may have encountered the infected student.
“The risk of contracting the disease is very small but TB skin tests will be given to all of the students and faculty who had classes with the student,” said Herbert Sledge, interim vice president for Institutional Advancement at BCCC. Family members of the student, who would be at the greatest risk, tested negative for TB.
“This is by no means an outbreak. By offering screenings and investigating, we’re following standard protocol and practicing due diligence,” said Dr. Kima Taylor, assistant commissioner for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention with the City health department.
Tuberculosis is most often spread through the air when a person with TB sneezes or coughs, and people nearby inhale the bacteria. TB can damage any part of the body such as the kidney, spine and brain but it usually attacks the lungs.
Although tuberculosis treatments are well-established and available, doctors and parents let their guard down in the late 1970s and early 1980s, resulting in an increase in TB cases between 1985 and 1992 in the U.S.
In 2005, 283 cases of tuberculosis were reported in Maryland, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Among all U.S. states, the CDC ranks Maryland the 11th highest in tuberculosis.
Those concerned about a possible exposure to TB who did not receive a letter from BCCC should call the Baltimore City Health Department at 410-396-9413.
