Certain individuals who were in close contact with a Binghamton University student who was diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis in February have been advised to get screened as a precautionary measure, according to an April 1 B-Line.

According to the announcement, the Broome County Health Department (BCHD) notified a specific set of individuals through a letter directing them to get tested for the disease at BU’s Health Services.

Tuberculosis (TB) usually affects the lungs, and sometimes hits other parts of the body, such as the brain, the kidneys or the spine, according to the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) Web site.

The student who was originally infected has recovered, and students who were diagnosed with a possible latent tuberculosis infection are receiving treatment through Health Services and the BCHD, according to Dr. Michael Leonard, BU’s medical director. None of them are considered contagious. The original student was an off-campus resident, but officials did not release his name.

“We are looking at testing a little over 50 students who had extended contact with the original student,” Leonard said.

Only students that receive a letter are being directed to undergo screening, according to B-Line.

“The BCHD indicate that transmission of tuberculosis is associated with close and prolonged contact and is uncommon among brief and causal contacts,” said Leonard.

It’s very difficult for tuberculosis to be transmitted in a casual school environment, according to Lucy Fleming, a public health nurse at BCHD. Transmission is most expected to occur in small and enclosed places, like dorm rooms or airplane rides, which last more than eight hours.

“In almost all cases, if you’re going to see transmission it’ll be where he’s eating, sleeping and coughing,” she said.

There were around 13,000 cases of tuberculosis in the United States last year, according to Fleming.

The number of cases is “coming down but very slowly, since we really do have a global economy now, with people moving from one place to the next,” she said.

Universities are usually considered breeding grounds for diseases such as TB because people live in congregate facilities where they share everything, according to Fleming.

“You wonder about students’ ability to withstand infection because of the stresses on their body from the environment,” she said. “Students are working very hard, staying up late and not getting the nutritional requirements they need.”

While there is a vaccine for TB, it’s not like the ones for measles or polio, according to Fleming. It is really only effective for infants, because as people grow into older children and adults it loses efficacy.

The vaccine is used most often in countries such as Africa, with high morbidity rates from TB, but has little effect on the world population.

“The Gates Foundation just gave a huge grant to Carnegie Melon University to develop a vaccine,” Fleming said. “Pharmaceutical companies aren’t doing it because they won’t get paid back, as the countries that need the vaccine are not the countries that can pay for it.”

It is not yet known how the original student was exposed to TB, but Health Services is working with the BCHD to find out, according to Leonard.

“In this day and age, the most common way of picking up TB is living or making prolonged visits to countries that have higher risk for TB,” he said.

Students looking for more information about TB or exposure can look on the CDC Web site, or call University Health Services at (607) 777-2221, or the BCHD TB Control Program at (607) 778-2839.