Tuesday,August 26,1997
The University Daily Kansan
Section A · Page 3
TB cases not to be ignored
Testing, medicine free for students at health center
By Sarah Chadwick Kansan staff writer
Each year, more than 50 KU students test positive for tuberculosis, a chronic infection usually of the lungs, that causes fever, weight loss, chest pain and heavy cough.
TB is an airborne bacteria transmitted through coughing or sneezing.
Because of an outdated vaccine, given mostly to international students, only one or two of the 50 patients are actually contagious.
The majority of KU students who test positive are international students or students who have spent time abroad and received BCG, a vaccination given overseas to prevent TB, said Raylene Gerken, a registered nurse at Watkins Memorial Health Center.
The United States does not use BCG vaccinations.
The vaccination has been used under the theory that its effects would last many years, when in fact, they do not. New studies have shown the BCG vaccination to be less effective than previously thought.
Patients vaccinated with BCG have dormant TB pathogens in their systems. Although these patients may test positive for TB,
they are not in danger of spreading the bacteria.
"Once a person tests positive, it will always test positive," Gerken said. "If a student gets a positive skin test, they then need to get a chest x-ray yearly, instead of a skin test to make sure that the bacteria is still dormant."
Gerken recommended that international students get checked because of possible exposure to different bacteria. But, she said, all domestic students do not need to be tested.
Any student in a medical, nursing, occupational therapy, human development or educational course that includes working with patients or children must have a yearly TB test.
The procedure for testing is simple. Gerken said.
No appointment is necessary for the procedure. The clinic at Watkins is open from noon to 5 p.m. daily. The immunization nurse performs the skin test by pricking a patient on the arm with a derivative of tuberculosis.
The patient must come back 48 to 72 hours later for a nurse to determine the test results. If the test is positive, a chest X-ray will be administered that day.
"If you are walking around with the active disease and you cough, you're exposing the people sitting next to you," Gerken said. "Tuberculosis lasts 20 minutes in the air. That's quite a long time when you're with someone that's contagious."
To prevent the re-development of TB later in life, an antibiotic called isoniazid (INH), should be
"If you are walking around with the active disease and you cough, you're exposing the people sitting next to you."
Raylene Gerken Watkins R.N.
taken for six months after testing positive.
"After the chest X-ray, if it is negative, you take INH to get rid of the dormant cultures," Gerken said. "If you take INH for the recommended 6 months, you don't need to take another skin test, X-ray or any medication again. Anybody who's been exposed to tuberculosis should take INH."
Because the state of Kansas supplies the medicine, Watkins does not charge patients for it. The first chest X-ray is free. If a follow-up X-ray is needed, the charge is $55.
One of the side-effects of the medicine is possible inflammation of the liver because the liver sometimes does not metabolize the medicine. This is monitored by four blood tests in a six month period. These blood tests are also free at Watkins.
Other medicinal side-effects may be abdominal pain, nausea, and fatigue.
"You have to be careful not to drink a lot of alcohol while on it," Gerken said. "If you do, you can't tell if the liver problems were caused by the medicine or alcohol."
Hall renovations planned to add more space for modern students
Templin Hall changes only the beginning of housing alterations
By Sarah McWilliams Kansan staff writer
Thirty years ago, college students in campus housing needed a bed, a desk and a communal bathroom. Many of today's students, however, are looking for more than that.
"It's just a nicer place to live without having to go to an apartment, which I really didn't want to do." Reid said.
Emily Reid, Lenexa senior, is one of those students. She decided to move into newly-renovated Templin Hall to cash in on its extra space and privacy.
Templin was only the beginning of a plan by the department of student housing to renovate the Daisy Hill residence halls and Oliver Hall for today's students.
One by one, the residence halls will go under the knife as construction crews build rooms with more
space, more privacy and, perhaps most important, more bathrooms.
Kenneth Stoner, director of the department of student housing, said that Lewis Hall, near Templin, was the next hall slated for renovation at a projected cost of $5.2 million. If all goes as planned, the department will shut down the hall after the spring 1998 semester, and will reopen in fall of 1999, he said. The new layout will be similar to Templin.
After Lewis, the department plans to renovate Hashinger Hall in 1999 and Ellsworth Hall in 2000. The department has tentative plans
"It's just a nicer place to live without having to go to an apartment, which I really didn't want to do."
to renovate McCollum Hall and Oliver Hall, but no time frame has been determined yet.
All renovations call for more space and privacy for residents.
Emily Reid
Lenexa senior
Stephanie Sprague, McPherson freshman, shares her suite with Reid and two other roommates. She said having two rooms in which to study and a lobby on their floor were some of the best aspects of living in Templin.
"You can just close the door and it's really quiet." Sprague said.
Reid said she lived in Ellsworth her first year in school and did not like having minimal space and four showers for an entire wing of the building to share. She now shares a bathroom with only three other people.
Stoner said 30 years ago, baby boomers hit college age and flooded campuses across the country. As a result, residence halls were designed to hold hundreds of people and to be built as quickly as possible.
While the halls were easy to build and could house hundreds of students each, they were built with little foresight into students' needs, Stoner said.
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