TUBERCULOSIS: SOME BASIC INFORMATION ON THE ILLNESS.(FRONT) - The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA)

Byline: Elizabeth Simpson

WHERE TO BEGIN

Chesapeake Health Department is operating a TB hotline: (757) 382-8721, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. People who have questions about tuberculosis, such as whether they should be tested, may call that number.

Visit pilotonline.com for links to government Web sites with detailed information about the disease.

Local TB testing

Only people who had close, prolonged contact with Deborah Byrd Chrysostomides, the nurse who died of TB , need to be tested, health department officials say. Patients and some visitors who were on the 2E unit at Chesapeake General Hospital, where the nurse worked during the time she had symptoms, will be notified by letter if they need to be tested.

Chesapeake health officials will follow up with people who don't respond to the letters to make sure they get tested.

Most people will undergo skin tests, requiring two visits within a few days of each other.

Location for tests

Chesapeake: Oscar F. Smith High School, 1994 Tiger Drive, next Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Testing also will be conducted on June 26 and 27 at the Chesapeake Health Department, 748 N. Battlefield Blvd, from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Health officials will schedule return visits for those initially tested.

Virginia Beach: Virginia Beach Department of Public Health, 4452 Corporation Lane, Monday from 4 to 6 p.m. , Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. , June 28 from 4 to 6 p.m. and June 29 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Return visits will be Wednesday from 4 to 6 p.m. , Thursday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. , June 30 from 4 to 6 p.m. and July 1 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Virginia Beach residents can call 518-2700 for more information about the tests. Select the 'Chesapeake nurse TB investigation' option.

Norfolk: To set up a testing appointment with the Norfolk Health Department, call 683-8384 or 683-2733. That department will be giving tests at its main office on 830 S. Hampton Ave. each weekday except for Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

A positive reaction on a skin test would be followed by more conclusive tests, such as a chest X-ray and a test of the phlegm you cough up. Blood or urine also may be tested.

Health officials are planning to skip skin tests for certain people who have recently undergone chemotherapy or steroid treatments and give them chest X-rays as their initial tests.

If you test positive

That means that you are likely carrying TB bacteria. But most people's immune systems fight the bacteria, and these people have what is known as latent TB infection. They have no symptoms of TB and can't spread it to others. The small percentage of people whose TB bacteria become active have what is called TB disease, or active TB, which is contagious and potentially serious.

People with active TB can spread the disease through the air to someone else when they cough or sneeze. Those who are infected usually are people who had close, regular contact with the person.

People at greatest risk

Those with HIV infection, those who have been infected with TB bacteria in the past two years, babies and young children, those who were not treated correctly for TB in the past, people who inject drugs, elderly people, and those who are sick with other diseases that weaken the immune system, such as cancer and kidney disease.

Symptoms of active TB

A bad cough that lasts more than two weeks, pain in the chest, coughing up blood or phlegm from deep within the lungs, weakness, loss of appetite, chills, fever, weight loss, or sweating at night.

Treatment for TB

People who test positive are usually given a medicine called isoniazid for six to nine months, which kills the bacteria and keeps them from developing active TB. People who test positive should get the treatment even if they don't have an active case of TB; it keeps them from developing TB disease.