2 students test positive for TB in skin exams

Two Roosevelt High School students among a group of 110 students and staff screened for tuberculosis have tested positive in preliminary skin exams, but they lacked contagious symptoms like coughing and feeling ill, according to a state Department of Health spokeswoman.

The two students, as well as 16 others who have had positive TB skin tests in the past, were scheduled to have free chest X-rays at Lanakila Health Center by tomorrow to determine whether they are carrying the bacterial disease, Health Department spokeswoman Janice Okubo said yesterday.

"If they are positive on the X-ray, then we are going to encourage them to get the medication to clear that infection," Okubo said. All 12 faculty members examined tested negative, she said.

The Health Department called for the tests of 164 students and staff at Roosevelt on Nov. 30 after lab exams of a student who had a positive TB skin test in October confirmed his diagnosis. Okubo said the school had to wait for the complete lab results before alerting the group suspected of having been in close contact with the sick student.

The Health Department still hopes to screen about 20 students who failed to participate in Monday's voluntary skin testing, Okubo said. It also needs to check the skin test of a sick student who did not show up for yesterday's reading at Roosevelt, she said.

In addition, test results are pending for 13 students who missed Monday's testing and took the skin exam yesterday, as well as four others who went to private doctors, Okubo said.