HONOLULU — The Hawai‘i State Department of Health (DOH) has completed the initial evaluation for more than 80% of the 197 potentially exposed students and staff at President William McKinley High School after one student was diagnosed with active TB disease in September. There are still 36 students who have not completed their evaluation and the DOH is working closely with Administration at the school to follow-up with these contacts. Results so far have determined that there are no other cases of active TB disease in the school.
Dr. Richard Brostrom, Chief of the DOH Tuberculosis Control Branch said, “We appreciate the continued cooperation from parents, students and the McKinley High School Administration. We will return in December to retest contacts who were negative on their initial skin test to make sure that we have protected the school as well as the local community.”
Initial results indicate a low rate of TB exposure. Of the school contacts tested so far, 11 were found to have evidence of recent TB exposure. It is not possible to know if these contacts were exposed to TB at school, outside of school, or during travels. The DOH Tuberculosis Control Branch is encouraging these contacts to take preventive medication to protect them from getting active TB disease in the future.
Submitted by Janice Okubo with the DOH