230 U.S. Air Force Cadets Test TB Positive

December 9, 2004
KOAA TV

The entire Cadet Wing at the U.S. Air Force Academy was tested for tuberculosis, after one cadet was found with an active case of the disease. The result--230 cadets tested positive for exposure to TB.

The El Paso County Health Department keeps close tabs on all tuberculosis infections and exposures. The most common test is a skin test. They inject a protein under the skin that reacts and hardens if the person has been exposed to TB. A chest x-ray will then tell doctors if the person has the active form of the disease.

People can be exposed to the disease after breathing the same air as someone with active TB who coughs up bacteria for a long period of time. The disease can stay dormant for many years before someone develops active TB. Health officials say only about 10 percent ever develop the active form. TB is treated with antibiotics.

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