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The Honolulu Advertiser
Updated at 3:08 p.m., Monday, May 5, 2008

TB TESTING
Farrington students and staff possibly exposed to TB

Advertiser Staff

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

The state Department of Health will be testing 106 students and five staff members at Farrington High School for tuberculosis.

Advertiser file photo

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The state Department of Health will be testing 106 students and five staff members at Farrington High School for tuberculosis due to possible exposure to a student with active TB disease, health officials said.

"This is a routine investigation and we hope to complete all the testing quickly," Dr. Glenn Wasserman, chief of the Communicable Disease Division, said in a news release this morning.

"There is no risk to the community at this time, and we will share our findings with the public once the investigation is complete," he said.

The students and staff who will be tested may have been in contact with the ill student by being in the same classroom. School administrators mailed letters on April 29 to inform parents and guardians of students about the situation. The student is no longer attending Farrington High School.

The DOH is providing informational sessions for all parents and guardians on May 6 from 6 to 7 p.m. and from 7 to 8 p.m., in Farrington High School's library. The health department will conduct TB skin tests at the high school on May 13. Individuals tested will have their tests evaluated at school on May 15.

For more information on tuberculosis or TB testing, the public may call the DOH Hawai'i Tuberculosis Control Program at 832-5731 or visit www.hawaii.gov/health/tb.