TB Detected At Osbourn HS?
By Greg L | 1 May 2008 | Manassas City | 32 Comments
A well-placed reader has told me that Osbourn High School students are being sent home with a letter informing them that a possible Tuberculosis case was identified at the school. Hopefully this is a false alarm, and everyone is OK.
Stay tuned for updates…
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“A well-placed reader” ????????????
I moved to Manassas last year from out-of-state and was dismayed to learn, during job orientation at Prince William Hospital, of the high rate of TB in this area, directly attributed to illegal aliens. This is a prime example of how our government has failed its citizens by not doing more to secure our borders against the assault of diseases prevalent in countries such as Mexico. One reason we placed our children in private school was to reduce their potential exposure to anyone who may be a carrier of diseases such as TB.
I think Nohe’s children are home schooled. Are the rest of the BOCS with children also home schooled or in private schools? I wonder if they are willing to expose their children to the greater risk that these diseases pose in the public schools. They sure don’t seem to mind the illegal aliens remaining in this county. Stewart didn’t fight hard enough. I am so disappointed in him. If this turns out to be true and an illegal alien student was the cause, we may never know, as it most likely will be kept quiet to protect the illegal alien population as always.
You have absolutely NO IDEA whether the local TB rate comes from a legal permanent resident, a foreign-born person on a tourist or student visa, or someone who is undocumented. Those statistics don’t exist. But that doesn’t really matter to you, or your cohort, because this discussion is not about whether someone is illegal, although that is your convenient excuse. You’re anti-immigrant, and this post, and reply, demonstrate that.
Like I said, check out the CDC site and quit spreading rumors and falsehood. Most TB cases are not the result of people coming into contact with foreign-born people. Its people who are being treated, American-born and foreign-born alike, who don’t take their meds as prescribed and end up contracting resistant strains of TB. Remember the nice white man who flew to Europe last year with resistant, active TB? (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,276336,00.html). What kind of alien was he?
AND, even when one’s TB is active and contagious, it is still extremely difficult to contract. “Tuberculosis typically spreads easily in crowded conditions among people with poor nutrition and lack of hygienic facilities like running water and proper waste disposal” (http://infectiousdiseases.about.com/b/2007/06/02/xdr-tb-airplane-scare-continues.htm).
AND, most people who contract TB in the U.S. have compromised immune systems (e.g., they’re on chemo or are HIV positive).
So, unless PWC and Manassas schools have trouble paying to keep their schools clean and sewers working, your kids should be okay in a public school.
Krutis said on 1 May 2008 at 5:45 pm:
“A well-placed reader” ????????????
That’s what he said!
Okay some of you are confused again. This is the city school.
In addition, the report says, “many illegal aliens harbor fatal diseases that American medicine fought and vanquished long ago, such as drug-resistant tuberculosis, malaria, leprosy, plague, polio, dengue, and Chagas disease.”
The above clipped from here:
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=43275
Some say the federal government has failed to fulfill its obligations. Perhaps the plan has been changed and we did not get the memo. Then at least it can be said they are doing what they have intended to do all along, which is nothing.
Krutis said on 1 May 2008 at 5:45 pm:
“A well-placed reader” ????????????
I see you’re back, and pickin’ nits as usual.
How’s it goin’?
Kinda lousy, actually!
I have to have a TB test every two years to volunteer at my children’s preschool. This past September, I tested borderline positive. Borderline because my raised bump stayed raised too long and was too large. My healthcare provider assured me it was probably OK but I should have a chest xray just to be sure, for my own peace of mind and especially because I have contact with children. I did have the xray and it was negative. My physician explained that I probably had some exposure to TB to cause my skin test to react this way and questioned whether I had been out of the country in the past six months. They said this was not an uncommon occurrence in their practice in the past few years. She went on to say she has heard of more TB in her large group practice these past few years then all of her previous years in practice combined. She matter of factly and very candidly told me it was a product of the increased population of persons from Latin American in PWC.
As a lifelong resident of PWC who had a completely negative TB test two years prior and does not travel to areas of the world which could have exposed me to TB…how do you think this could have happened to me….
It’s not a pleasant situation.
It’s a mix. At least two of the supervisors (Stewart and Covingten) send their children to public schools (not sure about the Principi’s) and one of them utilizes private schooling ( Stirrup). Nohe’s are homeschooled. Jenkins has grandkids in public schools (not sure about Caddigan’s grandkids). May has only a baby.
Sarah
You have got to be kidding. If you saw what I see. Kids coming to the reading table and sneezing and coughing like crazy. Germs in a school have plenty of opportunity to spread from student to student. Often kids come to school who obviously should be home in bed. When asked if their parents knew they were sick they say yes but that their folks had to work.
The students get sent to the school nurse, but they are soon back in class in no time unless they are running a fewer.
Sarah - are you a goofball or what? The explanation for the spread of TB is right there in your own post. Here it is:
“Tuberculosis typically spreads easily in crowded conditions among people with poor nutrition and lack of hygienic facilities like running water and proper waste disposal”
This is exactly how illegals live - 15 people to 1 1/2 bath house.
Duh.
Too bad it has to be that way in the richest country in the world, isn’t it?
Principi’s kids go to private school.
Sarah, poor woman, you’re ability to deny is astounding. I fear that it must be painful to be that stupid. Like a sucking sound in your ears from the vacuum. Measles are making a comeback because of illegal aliens who lack immunizations. TB, if it makes a comeback…same reason. And your answer will be to immunize the entire world (on my dime, too). I have to use strong imagery because the stupidity of people like you is endangering our children.
Hey attorney’s out there, if someone’s child(ren) are infected with TB, is this the “harm” test needed to sue the BOCS for failing to protect the public? If they happen to be infected with MDR-TB and perish, would this be one of those cases where you could sue for loss of potential earnings, etc.?
Lord, please don’t let this happen, but this is the sort of possibility that could be brought on by short-sighted policy makers like Principi.
MJM has the story today - http://www.insidenova.com/isn/news/local/article/possible_tuberculosis_case_discovered_at_osbourn/14821/
Sarah said on 1 May 2008 at 6:18 pm:
“Tuberculosis typically spreads easily in crowded conditions among people with poor nutrition and lack of hygienic facilities like running water and proper waste disposal”
YOUR WORDS!
FYI - I have tested positive for TB since my first test eons ago. Went through different checks; no signs of active TB. Was told it’s possible to test positive, yet not be a carrier. And please, don’t ask me to explain how that happens. I don’t know.
And please, do not get hyper about this case. It’s not going to be an epidemic of TB in PWC because of ONE case, which is still iffy it seems.
http://www.vdh.virginia.gov/epidemiology/DiseasePrevention/Programs/Tuberculosis/Epidemiology/documents/2001rates.pdf
Scroll to the bottom to see PWC. This only goes to 2001. I can only imagine what the numbers must be today. How can we find more data on this?
I just posted and it is not showing, so I will try again. Check out this link. The data only goes to 2001. If you scroll to see PWC. I can only imagine what the numbers must look like today. How can we find data for 2002-2008?
http://tinyurl.com/3u8f6z
In 1997 PWC had 7 reported cases of TB. In 2001 we had 26. Fairfax County had 72 reported cases of TB in 1997 and 89 in 2001.
I found the updated date. In 2006, PWC is up to 31 reported cases of TB. Fairfax County continues to show startling numbers: 120 in 2006
http://tinyurl.com/3tnns6
Yeah, well, measles are back, too.
http://infectious-diseases.jwatch.org/cgi/content/citation/2007/110/4?ck=nck
http://infectious-diseases.jwatch.org/cgi/content/citation/2007/110/4?ck=nck
Article in today’s New York Times health section on the upswing of measles:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/02/health/02measles.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
My mother had a persistent cough so she went to her doctor. She said the doctor when on a 15 minute rant about all the TB being witnessed in the medical community because of illegal aliens.
The doctor’s advice to to my mother to avoid exposure to TB — don’t eat out, and stay away from any place with a large number of undocumented immigrants — like emergency rooms.
The illegals are a health hazard.
Thank goodness I have access to the ER at Ft. Belvoir. I would have to be dying to go to the local ER. I am so sorry for any legal resident and citizen that has to go there and wade through all the illegal aliens with unscreened health problems.
Judy T. - Was your mother’s persistent cough due to TB?
- A doctor taking 15 minutes out of his busy day to rant about illegal aliens must be a most unusual occurrence. (hope your mom didn’t have to pay for the extra time). It probably caused some other patient’s appointment to be late, besides.
Your local restaurants must be happy about having a doctor tell people not to eat out.
- What do you do in a emergency, if the doctor has told you to stay away from emergency rooms?
Just wondering!
Krutis,
What is wrong with you? A “rant” can only take a few seconds…ya know like “you’ll all burn in hell” or whatever that illegal alien (add “apologist” if she’s a citizen along with my apology for assuming) said at 3 in the morning last October when the BOCS UNANIMOUSLY passed the rule of law resolution.
Today’s MD’s/DO’s in PWC took the oath because they were looking to deal take on the tough tasks, cure cancer, eliminate H.I.V., push back H5N1, not deal with third world diseases virtually eliminated from this country years ago but back because we can’t secure our border.
Tom Ridge - Judy T. said @ 1:55 pm that her mother’s doctor “went on a 15 minute rant…” and I thought it amazing that a doctor had so much free time. Anyway, I agree with you that a “rant” doesn’t need much time. (what is H5N1?
BTW Tom, what did you do with all the duct tape you ordered for your “safe room” after 9/11?
Avian influenza.
It’s up in pennsylvania with my cubic feet of plastic sheeting and my cases of canned peaches.