No news good news for CSC tuberculosis infection

As The Eagle reported last week, a student at Chadron State College was recently diagnosed with an active tuberculosis infection.

As The Eagle went to press Wednesday, no additional active infections were recorded.

In the week since the announcement, college administration worked with Panhandle Public Health District (PPHD) to contact and screen students who had contact with the infected individual.

Becky Corman, a nurse with PPHD, spoke with The Eagle Wednesday.

Corman placed the number of students already called for screening at a little over 100.

While the number may seem large, Corman stressed that these student are only being tested for exposure to tuberculosis germs, and it does not mean they are themselves sick.

“We are testing for exposure. Even if the screen comes back positive it doesn’t mean you’re sick. You’ve just got germs in your system,” Corman said.

Corman said testing positive in the tuberculosis screen indicates that a person has come in contact with a person who is actively infected and likely has a latent infection.

A latent infection is not contagious, so students who have been screened should not be worried about going to work or attending classes.

“With a latent infection the germs are in your system, but not necessarily in your chest. The follow up is a chest X-ray,” Corman said.

According to Corman, Friday will be the last day of screenings.

“We’ve had a really good response from the student contacted for screenings,” Corman said.

Randy Rhine, vice president of enrollment management and student services, official CSC contact for the issue spoke with The Eagle in a phone interview Wednesday.

“PPHD has a protocol and they are responsible for managing the incident. We will follow their instructions to the letter,” Rhine said.

Rhine was confident about PPHD’s management of the situation. He stressed that at this point, students have

“This is a time for calmness and cool heads to prevail. PPHD knows how to handle this type of situation,” Rhine said.

“If someone has a concern, they can be tested at their own cost, but if PPHD doesn’t contact you there is not any reason to be worried.”

Those parties interested in more information about getting screened can contact Corman at 308-262-2217 or 855-227-2217.

After Friday, PPHD will evaluate how many, if any, positives turn up from the screenings and proceed from there.

“It looks like we won’t have to test anymore after Friday,” Corman said.

Owing to the legal restrictions of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), the student’s name and information cannot be released to the public.

Corman said that information about where and how the student contracted tuberculosis could also not be released.