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Nine More Test Positive For TB At Olathe Northwest

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria, the cause of TB, as seen in a scanning electron micrograph.

Health authorities say another nine people have tested positive for tuberculosis after 218 individuals were tested for the infection at Olathe Northwest High School on May 5.

All 218 had been tested previously but were retested due to their potential exposure during the second semester, the authorities said. No additional rounds of testing are planned.

A student came down with the disease in March. More than 300 people were tested shortly afterward and 27 tested positive. Another four tested positive in April.

Being infected isn’t the same as having the disease, whose symptoms include fever, night sweats, coughing and weight loss.

The infected individuals will get free chest x-rays and antibiotics to kill the TB bacteria.

Dan Margolies, editor of the Heartland Health Monitor team, is based at KCUR.

Dan Margolies has been a reporter for the Kansas City Business Journal, The Kansas City Star, and KCUR Public Radio. He retired as a reporter in December 2022 after a 37-year journalism career.
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