Central High in Detroit Tops School News With Tuberculosis Scare and Gunshots

Parents received a scare after their children returned home from school with a letter from the school, stating that an individual in the school may have Tuberculosis (TB) disease in Detroit, Michigan.

Although the school has taken precautions and necessary actions, The Detroit Department of Health and Wellness Promotion program and the TB Control Program are working with Detroit Central High School by conducting a contact investigation. But there are some parents who are taking the situation very seriously, and are scheduling doctor visits for their children. Lori Atkins, parent of Breanne Atkins, tenth grader at CHS stated that she didn't hesitate when her daughter notified her of the situation. "That's nothing to play with," Atkins stated.

Comments from the school weren't available, but the letter sent to parents of the students of CHS stated that a general information sharing meeting for interested individuals was scheduled. Members of the staff for the Detroit Health Department and Detroit Public School are said to be available for questions during the meeting.

Tuberculosis (TB) is an infection caused by slow-growing bacteria that grow best in areas of the body that have lots of blood and oxygen; and is often found in the lungs, which gives the name pulmonary TB. This form of TB is contagious and airborne. It's spread even more when an infected person coughs or laughs. Of course there are more types or forms of TB, but these are not contagious as the lung TB.

Some symptoms of Tuberculosis may be: a bad cough, usually associated with thick, cloudy or bloody mucus from your lungs; swelling in the neck; shortness of breath, chest pains; night sweats and fevers, among a few more. This does not necessarily mean that if you get these symptoms, they are linked to you having TB. But it's better to play it on the safe side and get a physician's opinion. It is important for people who are at a high risk for getting TB to get tested once or twice every year. Those being people with: HIV, or another immune weakening illness; care for a patient who has been diagnosed with TB; have close contact with someone who has active TB; live or work in crowded places such as prisons, nursing homes, shelters, or other places where active TB may be; abuse drugs or alcohol; visit places were TB untreated is found most common, such as Latin America, Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, and Russia.

If you or someone you know may have any of the symptoms, or would just like more information, please visit your physician, or a local Health Department as soon as possible.

Central High School's administrators had just enough time to exhale, after closing the TB case with knowledge of the individual infected, and began resuming their schedules. But soon, another incident broke the quiet when an person was shot in the hallways of the school just weeks later. According to school administrators, the gunshot victim apparently tried to enter the school earlier, but was refused entrance, not being enrolled. Witnesses later heard gunshots, and the victim was seen laying in the hallway of the second floor of Central High School with a gunshot wound. Reports have no mention of where the gunshot was on the body of the victim, nor were there any names released at the time of this article. But reports have stated that the victim is in stable condition at a local hospital.