Homecoming Dance Goes on Despite TB Case
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Posted By: Duffie Dixon


NORCROSS, Ga. -- Despite a confirmed case of tuberculosis and 25 others at Meadowcreek High School who tested positive to being exposed to TB, the school went ahead with the homecoming dance Saturday night.

Teens showed up at 7 p.m. Saturday dressed in formal wear and took pictures before they entered the decorated lunchroom area. But not Ariel Sequiera.

"I am extremely disappointed that I can't go," said Ariel Sequiera.

She graduated from Meadowcreek High School last year and was invited by a friend, who is a senior, to attend the homecoming dance, but her mom, Alba Sequiera, said no after learning about the TB scare.

"Frankly, I'm really surprised the school is going forward with a dance given that one student has already been diagnosed with TB and there are 25 others who tested positive for being exposed to it," said Alba Sequiera.

A spokesperson for the Gwinnett County School District, Sloan Roach, stressed that none of the students and staff who tested positive exhibited signs or symptoms of tuberculosis. They will all get a follow up chest x-rays to completely rule it out. Still, Ariel's mom would rather be safe than sorry.

"I told my daughter, 'think of it this way, for one evening is it worth the risk of being on medication for a year and possibly injured for life if you happen to contract TB.' We forget how serious it is because we haven't faced an epidemic of it in so many years, but it's not worth chancing," said Alba Sequiera.

When asked if the school district had any reservations about going ahead with Saturday's homecoming dance, Roach said she felt the Health Department would have told them if that wasn't the right decision.

"Aside from the testing we did on 175 students and staff who may have had contact with the 11th grader who has a confirmed case of TB, the Health Department indicated there were no other measures that had to be taken," said Roach.

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