HEALTH CARE INFORMATION

Dear New ESU International Student,

Welcome to Emporia State University and the ESU Student Health Service. Our mission is to provide quality health care for all ESU students. Preventative health care is part of that mission. For this reason Emporia State University Administration has adopted a mandatory tuberculosis testing policy. You may read the policy in it's entirety further down this page.

The policy requires testing of all students that have spent more than four months in a country with a high incidence of tuberculosis. INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS FROM HIGH RISK COUNTRIES MUST COMPLETE TESTING REQUIREMENTS TO BE ABLE TO REMAIN IN CLASS. This testing must be done in the US. Test results from outside the United States will not be accepted. To simplify the testing process, the ESU Student Health Service will have a TB test clinic for International students during your enrollment process. (Contact the Health Center for further details at 620-341-5223, or shc@emporia.edu.) The test used at ESU is a blood test, which is not affected by previous vaccination. Test results are usually obtained within a few days, and if your results are positive you will be contacted for further instruction. Generally this will include being sent to the Public Health clinic, having a Chest X-ray done, and perhaps given the opportunity for medication at no cost to you.. If you are tested in the United States prior to arriving at Emporia State University, bring the test results to the ESU Student Health Center as soon as you arrive at ESU.

For your information, healthcare is VERY EXPENSIVE in the United States. ESU requires that all International Students purchase health insurance prior to coming to ESU. The Kansas Board of Regents policy through United Healthcare-Student Resources (http://www.uhcsr.com) is the only policy accepted at ESU Student Health Services.  You may enroll in this insurance online at www.uhcsr.com or by picking up a booklet at Health Services or the Office of International Education.

We look forward to having you on campus at Emporia State University.

ESU Policy on TB testing for At-risk Students

Effective: August 1, 2008

Tuberculosis (TB) continues to be a highly infectious, potentially life threatening disease. Because of the increase in TB worldwide, and in response to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and American College Health Association (ACHA) recommendations regarding strategies for TB control, Emporia State University (ESU) is instituting a mandatory prevention and treatment policy for all students from countries of high risk as determined by the World Health Organization (see definitions below).

Testing Requirements

A blood test called "Quantiferon Gold-TB" is required for all new students from countries where TB is of high incidence.  If you have had any other testing or treatment for tuberculosis please be sure and let the staff know this.  Testing done and/or interpreted in other countries will not be accepted.

This test will be done within a few days of your arrival on campus.  If you do not do the mandatory testing, you will not be allowed to remain in class.

Unlike the skin test, the blood test is NOT affected by BCG Vaccination or by recent live-virus vaccination.  If your blood test is positive it means that you have the bacteria that causes TB in your body.  You will then be required to have a Chext X-ray even if you just had one done at home before your arrival.

Most students with a positive blood test will have a normal Chest X-ray, meaning they are not yet sick from the TB germs in their body.  This is called "Latent Tuberculosis Infection" or "LTBI".  If you take medicine at this point in the infection, you can preventdeveloping active TB, which can make you very sick and can also make others around you sick as well.  If you do not complete the 6 to 9 months of preventative medicine, it is likely that you will someday develop active TB. 

If you decide to take the medicine, it is very important to finish the entire treatment, so that the TB bacteria does not become resistant to the medicine.  The entire course of preventative medicine will be given to you at no cost via the public health system.

Definition of high-risk country*

STUDENTS FROM ANY COUNTRY LISTED BELOW MUST BE TESTED.

STUDENTS FROM ANY COUNTRY LISTED BELOW ARE NOT REQUIRED TO BE TESTED.