Health advisory issued after multiple student illnesses

By Shannon Curley
Collegian Staff
March 28, 2007

A health advisory was issued on the mylasalle portal after two resident students were diagnosed with chicken pox in February and two commuter students came down with tuberculosis in March.

The Division of Student Affairs posted the portal announcement March 26, after consulting with the Philadelphia Health Department. The two infected residents were restricted from on-campus housing, but have since been treated and returned to the dorms.

Students who were at risk for chicken pox were checked out by Health Services immediately. According to Dina Oleksiak, the Associate Director of Student Health Center, students in danger of infection had at least “four or more hours of exposure” to the sick person.

“We were able to pretty much identify those people through talking with the students,” Oleksiak said.

There have been no more reported cases of chicken pox.

During March, it was suspected that two commuter students had developed active cases of tuberculosis (TB). TB, according to the Philadelphia Department of Health Tuberculosis Control Program, is “a disease caused by tiny germs that are breathed into the lungs.”

“Untreated, it can be extremely serious,” Oleksiak said.

It is possible to have a TB infection without having the TB disease. A person infected with TB may have TB germs in his or her body, but won’t exhibit any symptoms and cannot spread it to others. If that person receives treatment, it can prevent the infection from causing the disease.

Symptoms of the TB disease include coughing, spitting up blood, weight loss, fever and tiredness.

The two students with TB were prevented from returning to campus by the Division of Student Affairs under the guidance of the Philadelphia Health Department. One of the students has since been evaluated and been given clearance to return to classes. The other student is not yet healthy enough to return and has withdrawn for the remainder of the semester.

The students and faculty at risk for infection, according to Oleksiak, were only those who had “five or more hours of exposure” to the students with tuberculosis.

The members of the La Salle community who were determined to be at risk were contacted and asked to consult with the Student Health Center. There have been no more reported cases on campus.

curleys1@lasalle.edu