Despite reassurances from school and health officials, many Modesto High students and parents remained anxious Thursday after a student was diagnosed with active tuberculosis.

Principal Mary Byers said she had received about 20 calls. She characterized them as inquiries in the vein of "What should I do?"

Byers said she told concerned parents: "Don't worry."

Outside Byers' office, though, students were worried.

Sophomore Jasmine Lacey said she was suspicious of the school's actions. "They want us to sit back and relax and they won't tell us who it is," she said. "People are sick around here and when you hear somebody coughing, you back up 50 feet."

Fellow sophomore Dealia White had a sterner warning. "If somebody coughs on me, I'm going to introduce them to my fist. There's going to be a lot of drama."

Some practical things have changed on campus.

"We're not sharing water anymore," sophomore Keith Brooks said. "Nobody is drinking out of anyone else's cup. We're staying on guard."

Senior Joseph Zurilgen said he hadn't been in any of the special sessions for students who were in classes with the TB patient.

"A lot of people are arguing with teachers," Zurilgen said. "We want to know who it is. The teachers say it's a point of confidentiality."

Byers said she was forbidden by law from revealing the student's identity. She would only say the student was a "regular kid" who had attended Modesto High for two years. She added the student was not an athlete, so Modesto High's sports teams are unaffected.

Zurilgen said he's sure the student was around more than people in classes.

"I want to know if the people I hang with have been around him," he said. "We don't even know if it's a boy or girl."

He gave the school credit for doing the right thing quickly, even if the administration didn't reveal who the person is.

"I guess if it was me that was sick I wouldn't want people to know, but I think it's in everybody's best interest if they tell us."

Byers met Thursday with each class the infected student attended. She outlined the school's response, which will include offering TB tests to students and faculty on March 10.

Byers also promised to buy doughnuts before lunch and ice cream after for students who take the test.

Byers said many students want to know if the test hurts.

"Having your ears pierced is about 10 times more painful," she said.

Health officials said anyone who tests positive will be referred to a county public health agency or a personal physician.

Some parents who were waiting to pick up children from school said they weren't waiting for the school -- they would schedule tests with family physicians.

Rebecca Linhares said she had already called her doctor about her daughter, Melissa. "He told me she probably doesn't have it, but I will have her tested just to be on the safe side."

Linhares said her doctor also explained the reasons for discretion.

"My physician said if the school disclosed who he was, that student would never be able to go back to school," she said. "I understand, but for the rest of us parents it's kind of scary. It's something we just can't do anything about."

Iris Escalante first heard about the outbreak when she came to pick up her son from school Thursday. "It's good they're not telling who it is, but it's scary to think he could have come to school and infect others."

Escalante said she would make a doctor's appointment for her son as soon as she got home.

Wednesday, Dr. John Walker, public health officer for Stanislaus County, advised the Modesto High community to remain calm. "This is a single case, and there is little probability the disease has been transmitted to others at the school site."

Officials said the disease is difficult to transmit from one person to the next. It usually is transmitted through the air, by coughing or sneezing in close proximity to another's face.

"It requires prolonged contact, and we have so little tuberculosis in this county," Walker said Wednesday.

The county had 22 cases of tuberculosis last year, and that is considered a low rate compared with other areas of the state.

Stanislaus County had a spike in TB cases about 20 years ago. Officials said the reason for the increase was due to a large influx of immigrants from Asia and Mexico.

Fifteen of 56 cases in 1980 involved children under 15. At the time, health officials also discounted the chances of classmates being able to infect others at school.

Then-county health director Kem Kelley said there was no chance of children contracting the disease from classmates because of the nature of transmission. "Generally," he said, "a person has to have prolonged contact with the disease."

There were no deaths attributed to TB in 1980, but a 1970 outbreak in the county affected 52 people and caused seven deaths.

For more information about tuberculosis, visit www.webmd.com and type TB in the search field.

Bee staff writer Roger W. Hoskins can be reached at 578-2311 or rhoskins@modbee.com.

Reprinted by permission of the Modesto Bee.