Arkansas state law requires that any person born in a country where tuberculosis is endemic, who is not a permanent resident, and who receives instruction in a room in which other students are present must be screened for TB.
Health Services works in partnership with the offices of International Services and IELP to provide TB screenings for all new international students.
- 179 students from 33 countries were screened.
- 28% of the students screened had a ‘positive’ result (a positive result indicates that the individual has been infected with TB bacteria. It does mean they have active disease).
- There were no active cases of TB.
For the second year in a row, the Arkansas Department of Health provided Health Services with FREE tuberculosis medications for international students who tested positive on their TB screening. Chanell Smith, RN manages this program and oversees medication compliance. There were six international students who chose to participate in the program this year and all six finished the 12-week regimen. These student’s received an average of $600+ in free medications .
Those who completed the regimen reduced, by 90%, their chances of ever
getting active TB!
