San Diego County public health officials said Thursday that they are working with Sweetwater High School to notify students and staff who may have been exposed to tuberculosis.
The potential for exposure on campus stretched from July 19 to Dec. 15, 2023.
The Sweetwater Union School District and the county’s Tuberculosis Program have notified people at highest risk of infection, according to a news release. Free TB screening is being arranged for students who are at increased risk.
Symptoms of active TB include persistent cough, fever, night sweats and unexplained weight loss. But the county warned that most people who become infected after exposure to tuberculosis do not get sick right away.
“This is called latent TB infection,” Dr. Wilma Wooten, the county’s public health officer, said. “Some who become infected with TB will become ill in the future, sometimes even years later, if their latent TB infection is not treated. Blood tests and skin tests are effective to determine whether someone has been infected.”
Annual cases have been on the rise, according to the county’s Health and Human Services Agency. In 2022, 208 people were reported with active TB disease in the county, up from 201 people in 2021 and 192 in 2020.
An estimated 175,000 people in San Diego County have a latent TB infection and are at risk for developing active TB without preventive treatment, health officials said. People who test positive for TB, but who do not have symptoms, should get a chest X-ray and talk to a medical provider, as they most likely have a latent TB infection.
Tuberculosis is an airborne disease that is transmitted from person-to-person through inhalation of the bacteria from the air. The chance of infection is higher for people with prolonged indoor exposure to a person who is sick. Brief interactions with a person with contagious tuberculosis are less likely to lead to an infection than prolonged or repeated exposures, according to county officials.
Effective treatments are available to cure people who are sick from active TB. Taking medicines for latent TB infection can cure the infection and prevent sickness.
Individuals who would like more information on this potential exposure should call the county TB Control Program at 619-692-5565.
– City News Service