La Mesa Middle School students will be tested Wednesday for tuberculosis after someone at school recently started treatment for TB, the county reported Monday.
The county didn’t immediately specify the sex or age of the carrier.
The county Health and Human Services Agency is working with school officials to notify individuals who were possibly exposed. The period of potential exposure is April 23 to June 13, 2014.
Testing is free at the 4200 Parks Avenue school in west La Mesa.
“Symptoms of active TB include persistent cough, fever, night sweats and unexplained weight loss,” says Dr. Wilma Wooten, county public health officer. “Most people who are exposed to TB do not develop the disease, but when it does occur, it can be treated and cured with medication; that’s why it’s important to identify those who have been exposed.”
TB in not uncommon in the San Diego region but has been declining in recent years.
To date, 84 cases have been reported in 2014. In 2013, 206 cases were reported in the county, the lowest number since local TB case peaked at 469 in 1993. There were 234 cases in 2012.
For more information on this potential exposure, call the La Mesa-Spring Valley School District at (619) 668-5700 or the County TB Control Program at (619) 692-8621.
