Two more Lafayette Parish schools have been added to the Louisiana Office of Public Health's tuberculosis investigation, which was prompted by the discovery of a "possible case" at Lafayette High earlier in the week.
The tuberculosis scare at Lafayette High has now spread to two additional Lafayette Parish Schools, the school system announced in a Thursday evening press release.
Louisiana Office of Public Health officials already are expected to test 200 Lafayette High students and staff for the disease next week, following the discovery of a "possible case" of the disease.
Now, OPH has expanded its investigation to also include Truman and Alice Boucher elementary schools, according to a press release issued Thursday by Angela Morrison, director of community collaborations for the Lafayette Parish School System. Thursday's release states:
The investigation [OPH] is currently conducting of a possible case of tuberculosis at Lafayette High School will now include testing individuals at Truman and Alice Boucher Elementary Schools who may have been exposed [but] OPH has not identified any new suspected cases. The additional individuals who will be tested are related to the ongoing investigation of the possible case at Lafayette High.
Those who will undergo next week's testing have been notified, according to the LPSS release, which also notes that school schedules will not be disrupted during the process.
Heading the investigation is Dr. Tina Stefanski, OPH medical director for the Acadiana region. She says tuberculosis is a contagious bacterial lung infection, which is typically spread through the air by "prolonged contact to an infected person."
Stefanski says the results from next week's blood tests should be in by the end of next week.