All at Beach school to be tested for TB - Fienberg-Fisher Elementary School in Miami Beach

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Published Friday, April 30, 1999, in the Miami Herald

All at Beach school to be tested for TB

By GIGI BARNETT

Herald Staff Writer

A cafeteria worker at Fienberg-Fisher Elementary School in Miami Beach has

tuberculosis, and now all 892 students and 65 faculty members will be tested

by Monday for the disease.

Deputy Superintendent of Schools Henry Fraind said his office learned of the

worker's condition April 15. Since then, she has not been permitted back

inside the school.

``The minute we found out, she was not allowed to stay there,'' Fraind said.

``This is curable, and we'll get them the screening.''

But some parents are upset that the school didn't tell them of the part-time

worker's condition earlier.

``It's nothing against her,'' said ez, whose 6-year-old son

attends the school. ``She didn't know she had it. But she has had a lot of

contact with a lot of children.''

``I don't play with my children's health,'' said , who took her

5-year-old daughter for testing after hearing the rumor. ``I'm not going to

expose my child to something like that.''

Other parents ask why part-time workers and teachers aren't required to

receive shots and vaccines.

``The kids have to be tested before they start school,'' said.

``There's a woman in the school coughing and hacking and nobody said

anything. It all boils down to Dade County's policies.''

School employees must take a physical -- which doesn't include a TB test --

and a drug test before they are hired.

``You may have some disgruntled parents, but the school did everything they

were supposed to do,'' Fraind said. ``It's very upsetting and we understand

that, but parents should be working with the school to get to the bottom of

this.''

Parents have the option of taking students to a private physician for a skin

test or waiting for the free test Monday. After the test is administered,

county workers will return to the school Wednesday to record test results.

Most people exposed to the airborne bacteria don't become infected, said

Annie Neasman, executive administrator of the county's health department.

At one time, tuberculosis struck one in 500 people. It was almost wiped out

with new drugs, but there has been a resurgence of the illness in the last

15 years. Symptoms include fatigue, coughing, night fevers and loss of

appetite.

``Even though I know they are concerned, we have not found another case

among the population at schools we've tested,'' Neasman said.

e-mail: gbarnett@...