Students Walk Out of Class Over TB Concerns

Tuberculosis concerns at a Prince George's County high school prompted some parents to pull their children out of class Thursday while health officials tried to calm their fears.

“I’m being a concerned parent, and also, me being a bus driver, I don’t think we’re getting enough information as far as the kids riding on our bus and everything like that,” one parent told News4.

Health and school officials say Potomac High School in Oxon Hill, Maryland, is safe, but rumors and misinformation on social media frightened students and parents.

“In respect to social media and various ways of communicating, that is something the school system does not necessarily control, but we do have various social media outlets through our communications department, and these are ways we also try to allay any fears and panic and hysteria,” Prince George’s County Public Schools Chief Health Officer Dr. Angela Wakhweya said.

Health officials said there has only been one confirmed case of tuberculosis at the school.

The bacterial infection is contracted through prolonged close contact, and those who are at risk are getting their skin tested. Some of those tests were positive, so those people are getting further screening.

“If you have a positive test it does not necessarily mean you have tuberculosis,” said Angela Crankfield-Edmond of the county Health Department.

A letter was sent home to parents, but the rumor mill, and perhaps a misunderstanding about how TB is spread, fueled a virtual panic.

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