The County’s Tuberculosis Control Program, in collaboration with Sweetwater Union School District (SUHSD), are working to notify students and staff who were potentially exposed to tuberculosis (TB) at Southwest High School from Feb. 1, 2025, to May 22, 2025.
The school district and County have notified individuals at highest risk of infection. No-cost TB screening is being arranged for students and staff who are at increased risk of infection.
TB is an airborne disease that is transmitted from person-to-person through inhalation of the bacteria from the air. The bacteria are spread when someone sick with TB coughs, speaks, sings, or breathes. People with frequent or prolonged indoor exposure to a person who is sick with TB should get tested. Brief interactions with a person with contagious tuberculosis are less likely to lead to TB infection than are prolonged or repeated exposures.
“Symptoms of active TB include persistent cough, fever, night sweats and unexplained weight loss,” said Sayone Thihalolipavan, M.D., MPH, County Public Health Officer. “Most people who become infected after exposure to tuberculosis do not get sick right away. This is called latent TB infection. Some who become infected with tuberculosis will become ill in the future, sometimes even years later, if their latent TB infection is not treated. For people who think they may have been exposed, blood tests and skin tests are an effective way to determine an infection.”
Effective treatments are available to cure people who are sick from active TB.
People who test positive for TB but who don’t have symptoms of active TB should get a chest x-ray and talk to a medical provider, as they most likely have a latent TB infection. People in this situation are infected with TB, but the infection is essentially dormant or “sleeping.” Taking medicines for latent TB infection can cure the infection and keep these people from getting sick.
It is especially important for individuals with symptoms of active TB and those who are immune compromised to see a medical provider to rule out active TB and to discuss preventive treatment.
Individuals who would like more information on this potential exposure should call the County TB Control Program at 619-692-8621.
The number of people diagnosed with active TB in San Diego County has decreased since the early 1990s and has stabilized in recent years. In 2020, there were 193 TB cases, 201 in 2021, 208 in 2022 and 242 in 2023. In 2024, a total of 247 people were reported with active TB disease in San Diego County. An estimated 175,000 people in San Diego County have latent TB infection and are at risk for developing active TB without preventive treatment.
