Boy in school flap over cystic fibrosis

[alp227]

By all accounts, Colman Chadam is a healthy, active 11-year-old boy who fit right in at Palo Alto's Jordan Middle School as a new kid in town.

Except now, school officials believe his genetic makeup means he is a health risk to some of its other students and ordered that he be moved to another district middle school 3 miles away.

Colman carries the genetic mutations for cystic fibrosis - but his doctor and parents say he does not have the disease. His parents, out of an abundance of caution, made the disclosure about his condition on a medical disclosure form when he began the school year.

(...)

While the disease is not contagious, the bacteria those with cystic fibrosis carry can be dangerous to people with the same disease, and non-siblings are advised to stay at least 3 to 6 feet away from each other.

(...)

While Colman carries the genetic mutations, he has never had the classic lung problems, has never required treatment and tested negative on a sweat test, the definitive diagnostic tool, his parents said Thursday.

A few weeks into the school year at Jordan Middle School, school officials took note of Colman's medical history, information that eventually was shared with another Jordan parent whose two children have classic cystic fibrosis and are predisposed to chronic lung infections.

"The school district freaked out," Colman's mother said.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Boy-in-school-flap-over-cystic-fibrosis-3944802.php

Wow, and you thought schools were freaking out by banning peanut foods because of one child with peanut allergies!

[XemaSab]

1. Why did his parents put that on the form?

[TeeYiYi]

2. How are the other two kids with classic cystic fibrosis allowed to stay? ...nt

TYY

[LisaL]

5. I suppose because they were there first.

[renate]

3. why can't they just culture his sputum to see whether he has those bacteria?

http://www.cff.org/LivingWithCF/StayingHealthy/Germs/Bcepacia/

Even if he had an actual diagnosis of CF, the likelihood of his having those bacteria is only 2.7%.

And how come he has to leave, rather than being kept away from those other kids? This isn't like peanut allergies--bringing peanut butter sandwiches to school is nice for the kids who can eat peanut butter, but not absolutely necessary. He has just as much of a right to be there as the other two kids who have cystic fibrosis. How come he's the one who's kicked out? Is it solely because they were there first? If the school district admitted as much, that'd at least explain it, but otherwise this is just silly.

[LisaL]

4. He doesn't actually have the disease.

All he has is a genetic mutation.
So I presume that is the reason they haven't tested him for these bacteria.

[laundry_queen]

6. Cystic Fibrosis is a recessive genetic disorder

if he carries 2 of the recessive mutations, he has the disease, despite not showing symptoms at that age. Some mutations are far more 'mild' than others, but generally, if you have 2 copies of the gene, you have CF. I know of people who had some of the more rare mutations that started showing symptoms in their teens, 20's or even 30's, but they had the disease, even if it was more 'mild' than the typical case. Most doctors now call it 'atypical CF' instead. And since CF is a progressive disease, sooner or later this child WILL show symptoms (unless he has a particular gene that is known almost exclusively for causing an absence of the vas deferens - something common with CF males - but no other signs of the disease and from the article it sounds like this might be the gene, since they said rare and his sweat test is negative). I do think it's overkill for the school to kick him out - the particular bacteria that is the problem caused a lot of CF camp closures back in the day but it is tested for regularly, and if he doesn't have pulmonary symptoms and isn't culturing any common CF bacteria then the school is going way overboard.

[no_hypocrisy]

7. These days, schools have one eye on potential liability.

If not the schools, then their insurance carriers. If a child even has the potential of being "harmed" while attending a school, the school and the municipality risk being sued by the child and his/her parents. The risk can be a mere possibility, not a probability. The fear of either Colman becoming an active cystic fibrosis patient, or another child from "exposure" to him is a legitimate concern, unless the parents sign a release that they assume the risk of infection for enrolling their child under the circumstances.