School student suspected of having TB

A senior student at Christchurch's Lincoln High School has been diagnosed with probable tuberculosis. File photo / Thinkstock

A senior student at Christchurch's Lincoln High School has been diagnosed with probable tuberculosis (TB) and classmates and family will be screened for the disease.

Canterbury District Health Board medical officer of health Dr Ramon Pink said today the student was responding well to treatment and was likely to be back at school in a couple of weeks.

He said close contacts of the student, including family members and possibly teachers and students, would be screened.

"Staff from community and public health will be meeting with teachers, students and parents at Lincoln High School this week to talk about TB and answer any questions they may have," Dr Pink said.

"TB is a relatively rare disease with 27 cases in Canterbury in 2010. There have been six cases in the year to date."

Dr Pink said it was not uncommon for TB to occur in people travelling from overseas. However, there were occasional cases where infection spread from person to person in New Zealand.

TB infection was spread from one person to another by coughing. Some of the signs of TB include losing a lot of weight; feeling tired all the time; sweating at night and a cough that continued for more than three weeks, usually with phlegm. Sometimes a person may cough up blood.

Treatment involves antibiotics taken for six to 12 months.

- NZPA