Grant County elementary student has TB

MARION, Ind. (WISH) - A Grant County school district has announced that an elementary student has a suspected case of tuberculosis.

Marion Community Schools said it is working with the Grant County and Indiana health departments and have identified other students who will be provided with TB testing as a result of possible contact with the student of Riverview Elementary School, on the north side of Marion at 513 W. Buckingham Dr. MCS said the student is now under medical care and not in a position to spread the disease.

TB is an airborne bacterial disease that primarily affects the lungs but can also affect other organs, according to the Indiana Department of Health. Symptoms include bad cough lasting longer than two weeks, coughing up blood, chest pains, fatigue or weakness, fever, weight and appetite loss, chills and night sweats.

The school district said it was “going above and beyond the normal recommendations to ensure student safety.”

A total of 11,182 TB cases were reported in the U.S. in 2010, the Centers for Disease Control reports, which was down 3.1 percent from the previous year.