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5 Raleigh Students to Be Tested for Serious Diseases

Five Wakefield Middle School students are being tested for a variety of serious diseases after they were stuck at school by a lancet meant to test a diabetic student's glucose levels.

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Wake County Public School System
RALEIGH, N.C. — Five Wakefield Middle School students are being tested for a variety of serious diseases as a precaution after they were stuck at school by a lancet meant to be used in testing a diabetic student's glucose levels.

School administrators said they were notified of the incident Tuesday. The kids were messing around and didn't realize the danger, officials said.

The Wake County Health Department will be testing the children over the next 18 months for symptoms of infections like HIV and hepatitis.

One of the student's parents, who asked not to be identified, said the youths are considered to be at low-risk for serious diseases because the diabetic student has no known diseases.

The mother said she has "no problem with the way the school system handled (the situation). They have not run from it."

Wake County Public School System spokesman Michael Evans said school officials take the situation very seriously, even though there was no evidence that it was a malicious act. Schools allow diabetic students to carry the testing kits for their safety and health.

Parents of the five students were notified immediately, Evans said.

"If you were not called, your child was not stuck," he said.

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