The Gallagher Student Health Center has announced that they have identified a student with an active case of tuberculosis. The student with TB does not live on-campus and is being treated in isolation off-campus.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, TB is transmitted via the air when a person with an active case coughs or sneezes. People having a latent or dormant case of TB do not suffer any symptoms and cannot spread the disease until the infection becomes active.
CDC recommendations state that anyone who has had 30 minute one-on-one meetings with infected individuals should be screened, but RPI is trying to go beyond that. The Health Center is contacting students who have had casual and short meetings with the individual and offerering them free screenings.
Anyone who has TB can be treated and cured if they seek medical care. Dormant cases can be confirmed by a skin test that the Student Health Center is offering for free to students, faculty, and staff.
The Health Center can be reached at 276-6287. When classes are in session, the Health Center is open Monday through Friday from 8 am until 6 pm, and Saturday and Sunday from 1 pm until 5 pm.
