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TB case at center triggers jitters

Officials try to allay fears of parents after a staff member is hospitalized.

CLEARWATER - A staff member at the North Greenwood Community Family Center has been hospitalized with tuberculosis, alarming some parents whose children attend after-school programs there.

Tuesday evening, however, the African American Leadership Council, the nonprofit agency that runs the center, and the Pinellas County Health Department held an emergency meeting to answer questions from dozens of worried parents.

The message?

Don't panic.

"TB is treatable and preventable," Health Department TB program manager Rob Berger told about 50 people.

Officials didn't release the name or job description of the infected man, but said they learned that he had an active case of TB early last week.

Parents, some clutching children, listened intently during the hourlong meeting at the Holt Avenue facility and questioned Berger about precautions they should take.

Lisa Jones, for one, said she will keep her son, Justin, 10, away from the center until the scare is over.

She and her husband learned about the diagnosis this week. The Joneses have three young daughters, 4-year-old Lishai, 14-month-old Daisia, and 6-month-old Athena. The couple doesn't want to take chances with their family's health, said Jones, 37.

"Are we comfortable with it?" she said. "No."

Berger explained that TB is harder to catch than mumps and chickenpox. The disease is spread through airborne bacteria. To contract TB, a person needs to be exposed in a confined space for four to six hours a day for three to four weeks, according to Health Department officials.

Even then, the disease remains latent for four to six weeks and can be treated before developing into an active case, health officials say.

Looking around the center, Berger nodded in approval at the ventilation system and high ceilings.

As a precaution, Berger said, the Health Department will provide free tests Friday at the center for all children. Some staff members and children who had close contact with the sick man were tested Monday.

After the meeting, Celeste Trotman, 41, said she felt reassured and will keep her son Edward Hillmon, 11, in the after-school program, which serves an average of 75 to 80 students daily, mostly from middle school.

"Now that I understand, I'm not concerned," Trotman said. "They're doing the proper things they need to to solve the problem."

Bilal Habeeb-ullah, president of the African American Leadership Council, said he learned about the infection on Nov. 23. The next day, he went to the Health Department at 8 a.m. for guidance, he said.

"We want to make sure that this is handled in the proper way," he said, "and make sure that the people who need to get tested, get tested."

The Health Department's advice, Habeeb-ullah said, was not to broadcast news of the diagnosis to parents and risk causing panic over the Thanksgiving holiday. Health Department officials confirmed Tuesday that the center responded appropriately.

At first, the Health Department decided to test only staff members who worked closely with the infected man.

Think of a stone tossed into a pond, said Berger.

"You want to test the closest contacts first," he said. "If you see abnormal amounts of infection percentages then you would expand and keep going further."

Normal protocols do not call for mass testing, according to Berger.

On Monday, Health Department officials notified the center they would test all children at the center.

Berger said the decision was made by medical staff at the Health Department and he did not know what prompted it.

"We don't want to miss anyone, even though the chance of infection here might not be that great," he said. "Typically with children, you don't want to leave any stone unturned."

Results of the first tests are expected within 48 hours and the remainder should be in by Monday, officials said.

Rochelle Harrison heard about the diagnosis last week and had her 13-year-old daughter, Jontel, tested immediately. Harrison, 39, works as a food service manager for Pinellas County schools and worried she might have been exposed to the disease.

After the meeting Tuesday, Harrison said she was relieved.

"This is an excellent program," she said. "My child will continue to come here."

- Jennifer Farrell can be reached at 445-4160 or farrell@sptimes.com

Tuberculosis, or TB, is a disease caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It is spread through the air. It can attack any part of the body, but usually attacks the lungs.

Symptoms take four to six weeks to develop. They include fever, night sweats, chills, loss of appetite and a persistent cough.

Those infected with latent TB do not feel sick, do not have any symptoms and cannot spread the disease. They may develop TB disease in the future.

Contracting the disease requires virtually constant exposure in a closed environment. Health Department officials say a rough guideline is three to four weeks breathing the same air as an infected person who is coughing or sneezing for four to six hours a day.

People who have latent TB but are not yet sick can take medicine so they will never develop the disease.

TB once was the leading cause of death in the United States, but today people can be treated and cured if they seek medical help. In 2000, more than 16,000 cases of TB were reported in the United States.

Sources: The Pinellas County Health Department and The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.