Monday morning, all Ole Miss students were notified of an active tuberculosis case on campus, with the infection possibly having been spread to an isolated number of students.
The university is working with the state health department to “identify, notify, and conduct screenings” of those individuals potentially exposed to the active tuberculosis case.
Approximately 500 students, faculty and staff who had prolonged contact with the student received an additional email informing them that they may have been exposed and will undergo testing by the Mississippi State Department of Health.
A UM Today public service announcement posted by Brandi Hephner LaBanc, vice chancellor for student affairs, stressed that individuals not notified of a need for testing are not at risk.
“Individuals who did not receive the email are NOT at risk for infection,” the statement said. “We will continue to utilize the expertise and assistance provided by the Mississippi State Department of Health to ensure the public health of our community.”
Dr. Travis Yates, director of University Health Services, expressed that the university is working closely with the Mississippi State Department of Health to follow standard protocol in dealing with active tuberculosis. He said his largest concern is making sure the public is aware of the difference between the latent and active stages of the disease.
“We deal with students every (school) year, during the fall and spring semesters with TB infection,” Dr. Yates said. “(Having) the TB infection means you have been around someone with TB and the germ gets in your body, but you have a healthy immune system and your body suppresses that. Our student of concern had the full-blown (active) disease, and that’s when you can be at risk if you come in close contact with that person.”
Although the initial UM press release directed people to call Dr. Travis Yates at the University Health Center for more information, its office is now referring all calls to the Mississippi State Department of Health.
Liz Sharlot, director of communications with the Mississippi State Department of Health, spoke with The Daily Mississippian in a phone interview.
Sharlot said the tuberculosis case came to the department’s attention because it is a reportable disease like AIDS or HIV, so when a physician confirms a case of TB, it has to be reported to the health department.
Only a few days have passed since the case was reported to the health department, which has worked quickly with Ole Miss to determine a plan of action.
“I’ve got to tell you, the university and the health department – I mean, think about, to identify 500 students in this short amount of time – they have worked wonderfully together,” Sharlot said. “The university has done a great job. They’ve been great to collaborate with on this, and we really got this screening set up in a very short amount of time.”
Sharlot said that after the active TB case was confirmed in this student, “that student did not return back to the university.”
Sharlot said members of the Ole Miss community should remain calm and that tuberculosis is always present; people just don’t notice until it affects them directly.
“I think whenever people hear TB, they get really scared, and what people need to understand is that TB exists,” Sharlot said. “It exists in Mississippi. It exists throughout the United States. Doing these kinds of investigations is what we do routinely.”
She said the health department has conducted past investigations in locations like middle schools, high schools, colleges and universities and casinos, to name a few.
“They don’t need to freak out,” Sharlot said. “The entire student public student body is not at risk. TB is an airborne disease, but you catch it by extended prolonged contact with someone. So if you’re just passing by a student, no, you wouldn’t get it.”
The Mississippi State Department of Health released a document with information the public should know about TB. It explained the differences between tuberculosis infection and tuberculosis disease. Tuberculosis infection does not cause illness and has no symptoms, and people with the infection can not spread it to others. If tuberculosis infection is detected, it can be treated to prevent active tuberculosis disease in the future.
If left untreated, however, tuberculosis infection can develop into tuberculosis disease. Symptoms of active tuberculosis disease are persistent coughing lasting two or more weeks, chest pains, difficulty breathing, chills, fever, coughing up blood, night sweats, feeling tired and weight loss.
The Mississippi Department of Health said that contracting tuberculosis infection usually requires extensive direct contact with a contagious person who has tuberculosis disease.
Because tuberculosis is a respiratory infection, it typically spreads by inhalation of airborne bacteria over an extended period of time. According to the press release, the infection is not spread by casual contact like shaking hands, sharing food or drink, touching linens or a toilet seat, sharing toothbrushes or kissing.
Sharlot said that in its investigation, the health department looked at people who had extensive, prolonged contact with the infected student to determine the circle of people to test.
“Those students may have been exposed, so out of an abundance of caution, we test them to make sure that they are not infected,” Sharlot said. “Those who received a letter, we just merely want to ensure that there was no infection. Those were the people who were considered close enough contact, so if you did not receive a letter, then you do not need to worry.”
She said even if students did receive an email alerting them that they should be tested, they don’t need to worry.
“I think the important thing to remember is to just show up to get tested,” Sharlot said. “If we need to further have contact with you, we will, but that the whole idea behind this is, if you are infected, to make sure you get appropriate treatment so you don’t get the disease.”
Anne Marie Hanna and Caroline Hewitt contributed to this article.
